Friday morning, The Fitness Center in Douglas had an unlikely patron.
Around 9:30 Friday, a small eastern rat snake emerged from an elliptical machine, much to the chagrin of members trying to get in an early end of the week workout. A patron caught the snake and removed it from the gym. Neither people nor the snake were harmed.
Eastern rat snakes are one of the most common snakes found in Coffee County. Whenever a snake gets indoors, it’s almost always an eastern rat snake. Even though it’s January, snakes and other reptiles will emerge on warm days. Given the warm weather South Georgia has experienced after a few days of bitterly cold temperatures, it’s no surprise to see reptiles moving around.
Rat snakes are not venomous but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re particularly nice. And they don’t always appreciate the goodwill shown to them in these kinds of situations.
It’s not that uncommon to find snakes in homes from time to time but it’s unusual to find them in businesses, such as a commercial gym, that attract a lot of people. There could be several reasons why the snake was inside but one thing is for certain – it wasn’t there for leg day.