6-foot-long snake spotted in driveway

SPRINGFIELD, PA -- Imagine looking at your driveway, only to see a six-foot-long snake slithering there.

That's what happened to one family in Pennsylvania this week.

"I just saw this huge snake, which was the width of the driveway," said Bess Sparks of Springfield.

Turns out it was a South American false water cobra.

"The kids were like 'Mom, a snake! A snake!'" Sparks said.

Sparks' first thoughts were of her young kids and dog. She ordered them all to stay indoors.

Experts say false water cobras are not actual cobras, but expand their necks like one. They have rear fangs and are venomous, but not lethal, and they rarely bite.

"Very scary. I don't like snakes to begin with," said neighbor Kate Shorten.

"It was a relief that it wasn't venomous as we first thought," said Sparks.

Police say a student who had just walked off the bus onto Spring Valley Road first spotted it.

She called her uncle who is a snake lover, and he arrived on scene. With the help of a friend, he took the snake away. Action News has been told the owner has been located and is asking for privacy.

"I was just happy to learn it's not native to this area, or else we wouldn't be outside playing. I'd be petrified," said Sparks.

It is not illegal to have a false water cobra as a pet.