Trio of rattlers shut down a Dollar Tree. Then a Georgia snake wrangler showed up
Snakes are all too common in rural Eatonton, Georgia. So it wasn’t all that surprising when a trio of rattlers forced a local Dollar Tree to close its doors to customers Wednesday afternoon.
A store employee dialed police after spotting a timber rattlesnake in the back stock room, according to The Eatonton Messenger. Officer Harold Bowman of the Eatonton Police Department responded minutes later to find the 14-inch long reptile at the rear of the store, the news outlet reported.
“Sometimes, we have to destroy them,” Eatonton Police Chief Kent Lawrence told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “But we try to turn them over to the people that does take care of the snakes and use them for classes, and what not.”
Officer Bowman “took care of” the first snake, Lawrence added. He said the department also called in reptile expert David Burke for assistance, as the Dollar Tree employee had spotted a few more rattlers.
Burke, who operates Georgia Reptile Adventures in nearby Madison, arrived about an hour later and retrieved a second snake from the back stock room. He returned to the store later Wednesday evening to find yet another one, Lawrence said.
The timber rattler, which can reach lengths of 2.5-5 feet, is a venomous species of viper commonly found across the Eastern United States, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. A bite from one of these creatures is a medical emergency as its venom is potent enough to kill an adult human, according to the zoo.
“I move around the corner of the refrigerator/cooler, and I hear a rattle, and there it is right there in front of me,” Burke, who holds educational programs about snakes and reptiles, told the Eatonton Messenger. “The young lady described it as about 2 ½ to 3 feet and she was exactly right. It was 3 feet long.”
The snakes were confined to the store’s back room and posed no danger to shoppers, according to Lawrence. He told McClatchy News the snakes likely slithered in through a gap beneath the back door.
“They feel like they probably came in under the back door of the business,” the police chief explained, adding that the business has since taken care of the issue.
Mark Holiefield, a district manager for the store, confirmed the worn seal under the doorway is scheduled to be replaced, according to the Messenger.
The Dollar Tree was closed for several hours as Burke did multiple sweeps to ensure the store was free of any more reptiles and that it was safe for customers and employees to return.
“[Burke] feels really good about it,” Lawrence added. “He hadn’t seen anymore (snakes), he hadn’t caught anymore. So that’s a good thing.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 6:08 PM.