A Texas man says a noise in his fireplace caught his attention, but he was not prepared for what he had to deal with next.
It was the middle of the night on July 7. There was a loud sound that turned out to be some people's worst nightmare.
A six-foot Texas rat snake had dropped down Gary David Antley's chimney into his fireplace in Trinity County.
The husband and father grabbed some barbecue tongs and his daughter set up the camera.
Antley says he gritted his teeth and went for it.
When he grabbed the snake by its neck, it got tangled in the fireplace mesh curtain.
A snake expert has some ideas on how this could've happen, saying it's an unusual occurrence.
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But it could've gotten in from a tree near the house with a branch over the chimney.
Antley found himself laughing at his reaction to the snake. But while he was wrestling the creature, it was no laughing matter.
