Snakes can be menaces — and they show up when you least expect them to.
Like on Sunday when Jerel Heywood went to visit his friend Rodney Copeland at his home in Lawton, Oklahoma.
As Heywood told CNN, the attack happened suddenly. He opened the screen door to Copeland's home when the serpent, which was wrapped around a porch light at the time, lunged forward and bit Heywood right on the head.
The men could not believe what had happened — if the screams of horror were any indication.
"I was in shock," Copeland said. "That could've been any one of us."
Heywood said his first thought was that he needed to get to a hospital to be treated for the bite.
Copeland and his wife brought Heywood to get medical attention. Although Heywood said he's not sure what kind of snake bit him, he told CNN it was not venomous.
"No stitches, thankfully, but they cleaned me up pretty good," Heywood said of his hospital visit. "I am on antibiotics."
Read more: A snake struggled to escape from an alligator's jaw — and the pictures are amazing
So while he is A-OK, the serpent — which Copeland estimated was 5 feet, 5 inches long — is not so lucky.
Copeland told CNN that one of his neighbors heard the commotion and came out to help. Ultimately, he killed the snake with a hammer.
The homeowner said he's never seen a snake on his property before, and guessed it probably had been drawn out by recent heavy rains in the area.
He said he will be spraying his home with sulfuric acid because "they don't like that."
It seems that snakes are cropping up in plenty of unexpected places lately — from gaggles in basements to pets on suburban roofs and — yes, even snakes on planes. Those sneaky snakes!
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- Australian authorities are hoping to kill millions of feral cats with poisoned sausage
- A woman was bit by a 5-foot python that had been hiding in a toilet, and it's truly the stuff of nightmares
- Watch a great white shark take a chomp out of a chum bag dangling off a fishing boat in Florida
