Officers Remove Snake From Bradenton Home During Hurricane: Watch

BRADENTON, FL — A Bradenton family had an unexpected and unwelcome visitor during Hurricane Idalia — a snake that slithered in seeking shelter from the storm.

The family called 911 on the intruder and “responding officers wanted nothing to do with said snake, so they sent for backup,” the Bradenton Police Department wrote in a Facebook post. (Watch a video of the snake being removed from the home below.)

The agency sent in acting Sgt. Kristie Affolter, “who isn’t even slightly skittish when it comes to scaly things and certainly not prone to hiss-terics,” police said.

They found the snake under a dresser and coaxed it into cookware.

In bodycam footage taken during the snake's capture, one officer can be heard saying, “Oh my god!”

Once the snake was caught, Affolter told the homeowners, “I can learn you a thing, if you want to learn something about ‘em.”

The homeowner, who seemed to just want the snake out of her house, asked if it was venomous.

“This one, due to the shape of his head, I’m going to go with nonvenomous,” Affolter said. “His pupils are round and he’s got a round-shaped head instead of like a arrow-shaped head.”

Initially, because of the snake’s coloring, she was worried it might be a water moccasin, which is venomous.

“He’s not happy, but he’s harmless,” she added. “He’ll still bite you; he just won’t kill you.”

Officers determined it was a banded water snake and took “the tiny intruder” out of the home, the department said.

Watch the video of the snake's removal: