On June 24, 2010--the exact date that marks the outbreak of King Philip's War--a carpenter got the surprise of his life when he approached the front door of a client's house to find a six foot Black Racer snake...three feet in the air and positioned to strike.
Black Racer snakes aren't exactly out of place in Massachusetts, but seeing one would certainly be a rare occurrence. Black Racers live in forests, wetlands and fields. They are shy reptiles that typically slither slowly away from contact with humans, unless provoked or cornered.
According to The Brockton Enterprise, "Mark Fitton turned to go back into the house on Lady Slipper Road and take out the last load of material after finishing a kitchen remodeling job.
He put one foot up on the stairs leading from the garage to the entryway, let out a yell and jumped back.
On the steps was a 6-foot snake, a black racer, standing 3 feet in the air, shaking its tail and darting upward toward Fitton’s head. Fitton is afraid of wasps and hornets, so his boss, Geoffrey Bassett, thought that’s what had startled him.
“Mark, cut it out,” he told him.
But when he saw the reptile, he quit teasing and called animal control.
It took about eight minutes for police to respond to the home on the far east side of town.
The snake had by that time fled the garage and hid in a nearby bush.
Out of fear for the four children living in the house, Bassett said, the three men decided to kill the snake.
Basset said the officer used a 6-foot angle iron, an L-shaped metal bar used in construction, that they found in the garage to knock the snake out of the bush. He then hit it several times with the bar until the head dangled from the body. Using a hand saw to remove the head, the men placed the carcass in a construction bag and put the bag in the trunk of the police cruiser."