Hawk appears to drop snake on Texas woman before attacking to get it back
Aug. 9, 2023, 12:22 PM UTCBy Chantal Da Silva
It turns out snakes don't need a plane to fall from the sky.
In a bewildering series of events, a Texas woman was injured after a hawk appeared to drop a snake on her before swooping down and launching an attack in an attempt to recover its prey.
Peggy Jones was mowing her lawn in Silsbee, about 100 miles northeast of Houston, on Tuesday when out of nowhere, a snake plummeted from the sky before landing on her arm and wrapping itself around her limb, she told Houston-based NBC affiliate KPRC-TV.
As the snake tightened around her arm, a hawk suddenly swooped down from above and started attacking Jones as it tried to pry the serpent away from her.
"The snake was squeezing so hard, and I was waving my arms in the air. And then, this hawk was swooping down clawing at my arm over and over," Jones, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News, told KPRC.
"I just kept saying, 'Help me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus'," she said.
She said the hawk came at her at least four times before it finally managed to get hold of the snake and fly away.
Photos shared with KPRC appeared to show deep cuts and bruises on Jones' bloodied right forearm following the attack.
Jones said her husband took her to the emergency room after he heard her screaming and ran to her aid.
"I was yelling and screaming. He didn't know what I was saying. I thought I was bit by a snake," she said.
No snake bite was found, but Jones said she did find what appeared to be snake venom on her glasses, which were damaged during the incident.
The Silsbee resident said people have told her she must be the unluckiest person alive to have both a snake and hawk attack her at the same time. However, she said: "I feel like the luckiest person alive to have survived this!"
She also said it wasn't her first encounter with a snake — she already survived being bitten by a serpent a few years ago, KPRC reported.
Chantal Da Silva
Chantal Da Silva is a breaking news editor for NBC News Digital based in London.
Nope.
I have no words.
great. now who's going to mow the lawn?
In my neighborhood it's mostly Hispanics.
I thought that was supposed to be a culturally insensitive thing to say. Is it a good place to find Jesus?
Why would you think that, do you want them unemployed?
Don't know, haven't looked for him. Most of the signs on street lights here are about missing cats or dogs.
Yet another reason to avoid Texas.
She should have rushed to by a ticket for the big MegaMillions drawing
Thanks for my first laugh out loud today, and it's almost noon here.
One in a billion for that to happen.
I see that as just part of nature and the Earth's wildlife getting even with us for totally fucking up the planet.
My question is when she cried “Help me Jesus!”, why didn’t he?