Police nab copperhead intruder

Police were called to Old Lycoming Township to nab an intruder of a different nature early Wednesday morning.

A large copperhead snake had slithered into the boiler room at Eastern Wood Products, 2020 Mill Lane.

"I have no idea how it got in there, but it may have come in through a door that could have been propped open," Jamie Furey, the company's sales manager, said in a telephone interview.

It was unknown if the snake may have arrived on the five-acre premises "on a trailer-load of green lumber, lumber that has not been kiln dried" or made its way onto the property from the nearby wooded area, Furey said.

"We're close to marsh wetland. It could have come down out of the mountain, looking for water," Furey added.

Because both Old Lycoming Township and DuBoistown police "were tied up handling domestic disturbance calls, South Williamsport Patrolman Carl Finnerty responded to assist with the situation," township police Chief William C. Solomon said.

Finnerty, who already had some experience in rounding up snakes that end up in spots where they don't belong, managed to get the poisonous snake into a secure container.

"He was dispatched to the scene at 1:20 a.m. and had the snake secured at 1:45 a.m.," township Det. Sgt. Christopher Kriner said. The length and weight of the snake was unknown. Efforts to reach Finnerty were unsuccessful.

Kriner said he believes that it was the first time in recent memory that an officer in the township had to deal with a copperhead "and hopefully it's the last."

"I certainly wouldn't want to mess around with one," he added.

Finnerty took his "prisoner" to a secluded area outside of South Williamsport and freed it, Kriner said.

It marked the second time in as many months that a snake visited the lumber company, Furey said.

Earlier this summer, a rattlesnake was found on a stack of lumber that had been delivered to the yard, Furey said, adding that it is believed the viper quickly slithered away upon being seen.