Snake in a Texas Walmart shopping cart

SAN ANTONIO (KTSA News) — It’s not uncommon to find flyers, coupons and other items left behind in shopping carts, but a live snake?

A Walmart employee collecting carts in the parking lot of a Walmart Store in Savannah, Texas, Saturday evening found a large rat snake in one of the shopping carts.

The worker let out a loud scream that caught the attention of a Northeast Police Department officer who was patrolling nearby.

He enlisted help from Walmart shopper John Heckaman, who’s been nicknamed the “Snake Charmer.” Heckaman says he knew the snake was non venomous, so he offered to remove it and relocate the reptile.

Heckaman was bitten once while trying to untangle the snake from the shopping cart, but he said in a Facebook post it was “no big deal.” He released the snake in a nearby field.

“Recent heavy rains are forcing a lot of snakes out of their natural habitats, and this goes to show, that they can turn up just about anywhere,” said Northeast police.