Pennsylvania woman uses shovel to kill cobra slithering onto her patio

A Pennsylvania woman prevailed in an unusual battle with wildlife on Monday when she found herself next to a venomous snake.

Kathy Kehoe, 73, said the squawking of some blue jays outside her unit caught her attention. When she looked outside, she saw a serpent about 1.5 metres in length.

Worried about the potential danger the poisonous creature could pose to her neighbours, she reached for her shovel.

Her apartment complex in Fairless Hills, about 45 kilometres northeast of Philadelphia, is the same one where officials removed 20 venomous snakes from another apartment in March. They aren't sure if the cobra had escaped from that unit.

Wildlife officials warn that people who spot snakes should call police and let experts handle the situation. But Kehoe says her neighbours are thanking her for quickly taking action.

Here is part of her conversation with As It Happens guest host Susan Bonner.

When did you first realize there was a cobra outside your apartment?

Well, I feed the birds [outside], and blue jays are outstanding watchdogs. And they were very frantic. They have different calls for different types of predators. So ... I knew that something unusual was out there.

So I got up and walked over and looked down and it was a snake. So I opened my screen door, because ... I wanted to see what kind of a snake it was, because I didn't recognize its scale pattern for the area.

And I looked and I saw the spot on its head, and I gave its tail a little nudge. And it went up and the hood opened up and I said, "It's a cobra!"

How big was the snake?

When we finally measured it ... it was about four-and-a-half to five feet.

Do you know a lot about snakes?

A good bit. I'm just an amateur. I'm not afraid of them. I've been, I've been catching them since I was a youngster on a farm. I just find them fascinating.

There are a lot of children, young children that play here. There's a playground. I just wasn't going to let this animal get away, because I felt it was dangerous to the community.- Kathy Kehoe

But not cobras.

Well no, not cobras. They're indigenous to China and Asia. They're not indigenous to Pennsylvania.

You go back in your house and you get your camera. Did you try to take pictures of the snake through your doorway?

Yes I did. I took two nice pictures. I wanted to make sure I got the hood and the eye on the back of its head on the hood, so that, I mean, I know it was a cobra, but I just wanted to make sure that if anything happened, that other people knew it was a cobra also.

What happened next?

First I wanted to capture it, but that immediately left my mind because I don't have a 50-gallon plastic garbage can with a locking lid and I don't have a snake catcher. And then I thought, if this gets away and gets in the apartment complex in between the walls, bad things can happen.

It's a poisonous reptile. And I immediately became worried for the community and my neighbours.

Did you consider calling someone for help?

No ... I kinda acted immediately; it was like, "contain the snake" and then call for help and get people. Because it takes time for emergency services to get anywhere, and snakes are fast. And it was moving at a good clip.

So I felt I had to act right away and contain the animal. Unfortunately, I wound up killing it, but that was the only second best thing I could think to do.

What did you do?

I went out and got my shovel. It went through the grass and I tapped its tail so that it would stop. It stopped and it raced up and its hood went out, and I took the point of the shovel and I nailed it on the head and pinned to the ground by its head.

One of the neighbours went by in his car and I flagged him down and he said why am I stopping? I said because I have a cobra pinned here. ... So he called the police and they dispatched animal control.

I observed it. I took my time. I was calm. But was I scared? Oh yeah.- Kathy Kehoe

So you didn't actually kill the snake, you just pinned it down?

I pinned it down. Eventually I did kill it. I did crush it. I was looking for decapitating it but I wasn't going to let go. I kept it pinned because it kept squirming so I had assumed, I assumed it was alive since his head was still attached.

Did you ever think that that this was not a safe thing to do?

Well yes, but [I was] weighing other people's lives in the community at risk from a poisonous reptile.

There are a lot of children, young children that play here. There's a playground. I just wasn't going to let this animal get away because I felt it was dangerous to the community.

I'm pretty cautious. I pretty much know what I'm doing. Like I said, I observed it. I took my time. I was calm. But was I scared? Oh yeah.

Do you feel a little different these days about your garden and about any time you hear the birds acting in a rather anxious way?

Well, the birds haven't been anxious outside of a little territorial fighting. Like I said, I know the difference in their calls.

But as for myself, before I step outside, I don't open the door till I look left, right and left again on my patio.

Written by Jonathan Ore with files from The Associated Press. Produced by Morgan Passi. Q&A edited for length and clarity.