In an effort to gain access to a couple of water meters, the City of Columbus had to remove a nest of 22 snakes in a maintenance pit, and one councilor jumped in to help.

On Wednesday, city councilman T.R. Wagner and Louisa Conservation Board member Lana Artz-McComb removed all 22 snakes from the pit. Artz-McComb said the large number of snakes was not a shock, “I was not surprised at all because we are coming out of the winter. When snakes come together for the winter it is something called a hibernaculum where it’s a place where they spend all winter long. They don’t really care about competition or even what species is in the hibernaculum. Everyone is just looking for a safe place to spend the winter, so finding twenty-something snakes is not unknown at all.”

According to Artz-McComb, the hibernaculum consisted of 21 fox snakes and one blue racer, none of which are venomous. The snakes were relocated to a safe area, away from the maintenance pit.