A Southern California truck driver got a package that he didn’t expect. Inside was a live rattlesnake, which made him think someone was trying to kill him.
The man called 911 after getting a package at the Twentynine Palms post office and calling to report the crime last week, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office told USA TODAY on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, Mara Rodriguez, said that officers replied and sent the report to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is now looking into it. The snake was caught by Animal Control.
The driver, 60-year-old Elijah Bowles, told the Los Angeles Times that cotton balls had been put inside the box so that mail workers wouldn’t be able to hear the rattle of the snake. The LA Times reported that he thought the snake was about 2 feet long.
Bowles told the newspaper, “That’s attempted murder if you ask me.”
Snake had been in the mail for two weeks.
The LA Times said that Bowles’ friend opened the package in the car as they left the post office.
“When she opened the box, she threw it at me almost,” he said. “And she says, ‘There’s a snake in there.'”
Bowles quickly stopped, put the box on the ground, and opened it with a stick. He quickly called 911 and Animal Control.
An LA Times story says a postal inspector said the package was marked “fragile” in black marker and had a return address for a home in Palm Coast, Florida. The package was sent through the mail on May 3 in Hayward, California.
Rick Boyd, who is in charge of Animal Control in Twentynine Palms, said the snake was a Western rattlesnake, which is also called a Northern Pacific rattlesnake and is more common in Northern California than Southern California.
Healthline says that anyone who gets bitten by a rattlesnake should see a doctor within 30 minutes because the bite can be fatal if it is not treated. A rattlesnake bite can kill you in two to three days if you don’t get medical help.
