Touring pro disc golfer Jake Hebenheimer has always loved snakes.
"The first snake I ever caught I was at my grandfather's house," Hebenheimer said. "I walked up to him, and the snake was biting my shirt, and I was holding the tail of the snake at four years old. My grandpa freaked out."
Hebenheimer is still extremely comfortable handling slithering serpents. But when one was freely roaming his tour van a few weeks ago and popping up unexpectedly during crosscountry drives, it crossed a line even for him.
It all started shortly after a tournament in Arkansas in mid-April. Hebenheimer always stops to help any snake he sees on a road. While driving to meet a friend and fellow pro disc golfer for some rock hunting (another of Hebenheimer's hobbies), he spotted a 5.5-foot/1.7-meter, non-venomous snake in his van's path. Rather than assist the snake and move on like he normally does, he decided it would be cool to show to his buddy.
"I'm not far from the rock spot, so I was just gonna hop in the car and drive there with the snake in my hand," Hebenheimer said. "As soon as I put the car in drive, it starts trying to strike me. I was swerving, and it wasn't good, so I put the snake down in the passenger seat and was like, 'I'll find you in 30 seconds when I'm in the parking lot.'"
When he arrived, though, the snake was nowhere to be found. Hebenheimer cracked the car windows and went rock hunting, leaving the snake to explore. He figured he'd find it on his return.
He didn't.
So Hebennheimer set off to his next stop at Bud Hill Disc Golf Course in Memphis, Tennessee, having no idea when his scaly passenger would make its presence known.
"On the way there, I feel something lick my leg," Hebenheimer said. "And there's the snake right there under my feet while I'm driving messing with my leg."
In Memphis, he tried to lure the snake out with a frozen mouse he bought at PetSmart. The snake emerged, but it got an easy snack, not an eviction.
"I have these big feeding tong things and try to get the snake to get its head out of the side of my van where it's at," Hebenheimer said. "It strikes and grabs the mouse, and we're playing tug-of-war for a few seconds, and the snake just takes the mouse right out of the tongs and goes back in."
With a big tournament coming up in Nashville, Hebenheimer had no choice but to make the over three-hour drive with reptile in tow. Ever more comfortable with its new traveling buddy, the snake came to cuddle during the trip.
"It's dark, I have the music pretty loud, and I didn't notice the snake in my lap until it started trying to crawl up my hand on the steering wheel," Hebenheimer said. "I'm going 75 miles per hour [120 kilometers per hour] down the highway, have a snake in my lap, trying to pull over. But as I try to get to the side of the road, there are two semis on the right, I'm struggling and trying to put on the flashers, and I'm battling the snake with one arm. I almost get in an accident, and the snake gets away again."
When he got to Nashville, Hebenheimer and the snake spent the night together in his van, which is where he sleeps on tour. The snake didn't emerge in the night, but the disc golfer woke up at least six times looking for it.
The snake's brief time living the van life (during which it probably started a vlog) finally came to an end after Hebenheimer returned from a practice round in Nashville to see it lounging in the warmth of his dashboard. He was able to grab it and set it free – but not before it got in a parting shot.
"Whenever I finally got it out of my van, I was trying to hold it and calm it down," Hebenheimer said. "It wouldn't calm down, and as I'm holding it, it reaches down and bites the back of my heel."
Though Hebenheimer likely won't invite any more snakes into his tour van, the experience hasn't changed his warm feelings for cold-blooded critters. He regularly goes herping, which is searching for snakes and amphibians to observe, and said he would have pursued a career in field research if he wasn't playing pro disc golf. On tour, Hebenheimer is known as the go-to guy for any snake question.
"Players on tour take pictures of the snakes they see and send them to me, and I tell them what it is – it's one of my favorite things," Hebenheimer said.
Given that disc golf is a sport played in woods and fields that are much typically wilder than the landscape of traditional golf courses, almost anyone who plays often is bound to encounter a snake at some point. Though Hebenheimer had a stressful time with one, he's well aware that he brought the experience on himself. His general advice to anyone who sees a snake is simply to leave it be, and it'll do the same to you.
"If you see one, just give it its space," Hebenheimer advised. "It's not going to try to hurt you. If you've already seen it, the only way you're going to get bit is if you mess with it."
For more information on getting along with and avoiding snakes on the disc golf course, check out our "Disc Golfer's Guide To Snakes."
