‘Thirsty’ snakes filled water well in Iowa — then unsuspecting maintenance man arrives

A worker performing maintenance on a faulty water well unknowingly disturbed what was apparently a popular watering hole for snakes, Iowa photos show.

The worker, an employee of Mort’s Water Company based in Latimer, went out to check on a well earlier this month, the business told McClatchy News.

When he arrived at the site, he pulled a pipe up from the underground well and was greeted by a slithering bundle of serpents.

There were between 8-9 of them, all bull snakes, Mort’s Water Company said in a Facebook post.

The snakes were likely able to crawl in “through the top of a poorly sealed well casing,” Mort’s post said.

Mort’s made the post on Oct. 15, and it has since been shared 1,500 times, garnering over 100 comments ranging from intrigued, to disturbed, to mildly charmed.

“Aw they were thirsty,” one commenter said.

“I would have never dreamed this could happen!” another user commented, sharing the post.

Ultimately, the problems that needed fixing were the well’s pump and motor, the business told McClatchy — not the snakes.

“I don’t think they were the issue, they were just an unexpected surprise,” Mort’s said.

Bull snakes are relatively large, able to grow up to six feet in length, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, but they are nonvenomous and pose no real threat to people. In fact, they are considered “economically beneficial,” experts said, “because of the large number of crop-destroying rodents it eats, this species is a valuable neighbor to farmers.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2021 at 12:27 PM with the headline "‘Thirsty’ snakes filled water well in Iowa — then unsuspecting maintenance man arrives."