Mom, kids find snakes in their Jonesboro apartment

JONESBORO, Ga. - A terrified Jonesboro mom reached out to FOX 5 Atlanta after discovering not one, but two snakes inside her apartment at The Woods on Tara Boulevard. Neither of them belong to her.

Jasmine Penson said she has four children, one as young as 3-years-old, and has no idea what potential danger the reptiles could pose to her family.

"One of them is about four-feet long," Penson said. "And then the other one is like ten-feet long, and it's like, it's skinny. And that's the one we saw first and tried to catch it and put it out, but it went back inside the wall."

One photo Penson shared with FOX 5 showed one of the snakes making itself comfortable under her refrigerator.

Penson told FOX 5 she found holes in her kitchen from which she believes they may have come.

She said she reached out to her building's maintenance crew, with no response. With her apartment management off for the weekend, she said she called animal control, but they were closed. She received texts that prompted her to contact the police and the fire department, who told her to try the Department of Natural Resources. She tried reaching out to a pest control service and left a message.

"I called the rental office emergency line twice. They called back about five hours later to tell me that it's not a maintenance problem, it's a pest control problem. Call the fire department or the police. But it's like, what do I do at this point with four kids?"

Penson told FOX 5 she decided they would be spending the night in a hotel.

"I plan on taking my kids to the hotel because I don't feel comfortable sleeping here not knowing what else is still in this apartment."

A spokesperson from the Department of Natural Resources reached out to FOX 5 Atlanta. The spokesperson said that anyone who lives in one of the core counties of metro Atlanta – Forsyth, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Fulton, Fayette, Clayton, Henry and Rockdale – can contact the Urban Wildlife Program for help.

Types of Georgia snakes

In the late summer months, it's pretty common for authorities to get calls about snake sightings.

Georgia has 47 species of snakes that can be found anywhere from the mountains of northern Georgia to the islands along the Atlantic coast, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Only seven of them are venomous.

Here are the types of nonvenomous snakes in Georgia:

• Eastern Green Watersnake
• Brown Watersnake
• Plain-bellied Watersnake
• Banded Watersnake
• Northern Watersnake
• Queen Snake
• Striped Crayfish Snake
• Glossy Crayfish Snake
• Black Swamp Snake
• Brown Snake
• Florida Brown Snake
• Red-bellied Snake
• Eastern Ribbon Snake
• Common Garter Snake
• Smooth Earth Snake
• Rough Earth Snake
• Eastern Hognose Snake
• Southern Hognose Snake
• Ringneck Snake
• Eastern Worm Snake
• Pine Woods Snake
• Mud Snake
• Rainbow Snake
• Black Racer
• Coachwhip
• Rough Green Snake
• Corn Snake
• Eastern Rat Snake
• Gray Rat Snake
• Pine Snake
• Common Kingsnake
• Black Kingsnake
• Mole Kingsnake
• Scarlet Kingsnake
• Eastern Milk Snake
• Scarlet Snake
• Southeastern Crowned Snake
• Florida Crowned Snake
• Eastern Indigo Snake
• Brahminy Blind Snake (non-native)

Here are the types of venomous snakes in Georgia:

• Copperhead
• Eastern Cottonmouth
• Florida Cottonmouth
• Eastern Coral Snake
• Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
• Pigmy Rattlesnake
• Timber Rattlesnake

By the way, it's illegal to kill non-venomous snakes in the state of Georgia. Doing so could land you up to a year in jail or cost you a $1,000 fine. So if you come across a snake and aren't sure what kind it is, the best thing to do is to call for help.

A spokesperson from the DNR said the most common native species to show up in a house or garage is the rat snake, which is nonvenomous.

Learn more about Georgia's snakes here.