Venomous snake hides in football player's helmet during practice — while he wears it

A cottonmouth made its way into a vacant football helmet for a nap before being discovered midpractice at an Arkansas high school.

A high school football player in Arkansas found a 2-foot-long cottonmouth snake inside his helmet last week. The pit viper was so reluctant to exit the helmet that police officers had to pour water into it to force the snake out and into a bag. Animal services technicians arrived a few minutes later, identified the sna

Football is an inherently dangerous sport. But this isn't part of the normal equation.

A high school football player in Arkansas had every right to be rattled after finding a venomous snake inside his helmet during practice.

High school football player in Arkansas finds viper in helmet  ESPN

High school football player in Arkansas practices with a venomous snake in his helmet  AP News

It is the stuff that nightmares are made of.

An Arkansas high school football player discovered a venomous snake in the helmet he was wearing during practicing for almost an hour last week.

A high school football player in Arkansas shocked his coaches when they discovered a venomous cottonmouth snake in his helmet

Venomous snake found inside Arkansas high school football player's helmet  USA Today

A player's unusual training companion: a venomous snake hid in his helmet for an hour  MARCA

Thousands of high school football players are hitting practice fields, but a Maumelle player found a venomous cottonmouth inside his helmet padding.

A Maumelle High School high school football player had a venomous snake wriggling around inside his helmet for an hour during practice before his coaches discovered the poisonous serpent.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Glamorous Florida ecologist Rosie Moore shocked her Instagram fans after filming a post-mortem exam of a 20-foot python