Snake knocks out power at Prince William Co. intersection

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — A large snake knocked out power to an intersection in Prince William County Monday. It happened in the afternoon at the intersection of Prince William Parkway and Sudley Manor Drive.

A Prince William County crash investigator and an animal control officer were called to the area and were able to get the snake and release it unharmed in the area. 

The power to the traffic lights in the intersection were knocked out because of the snake. Authorities used the opportunity to remind drivers on social media to treat flashing lights as a stop sign and proceed with caution.

Snakes will frequently follow mice, birds, and other small prey into substations where they can get into transformers and other important equipment, causing power disruptions and outages in the process.

Last year, a snake was responsible for a major power outage in Japan, knocking out power to nearly 10,000 homes during a July heatwave.