FedEx Driver Kills Snake With Homeowner's Gardening Tools After Delivering Package

A FedEx driver in Nebraska is being praised for springing into action after coming face to face with a rattlesnake at a homeowner’s door.  

The driver, Matt Govier, was delivering a package to a customer’s home in Dawson County earlier this month when he noticed the venomous serpent in a corner near the front steps of the home, ABC affiliate NTV reported. 

Ring camera footage from the home, shared with NTV, showed the snake curled up in a corner by the front door right before Govier arrived. 

While most would have fled, the quick-thinking driver immediately went into the homeowner’s garage to grab a shovel and a rake, which he used to kill the 36-inch-long prairie rattlesnake, according to NTV.

The terrifying prairie rattlesnake is one of many rattlers found in the United States. They can grow up to about 5 feet long, according to the National Park Service. 

After slaughtering the slithering invader, Govier removed the animal’s body from the premises and texted the homeowner, Christie Jones, to let her know about the close encounter. 

“I hope you didn’t have a pet rattlesnake at your front door, because I killed him,” he wrote. 

“Sorry about the blood,” Govier added.

Jones said in a Facebook post that her 12-year-old daughter, Kyler, had stepped outside the front door just minutes before the “Anaconda sized” rattlesnake was spotted by Govier.

Prairie rattlesnakes, known as ambush predators, track their prey using thermosensitive pits on their heads, according to the National Park Service. They are known for being masters at finding well-hidden spots under thick prairie grasses until their prey comes within striking distance.  

“Anyone who really knows me knows how incredibly fearful I am of any kind of snake,” Jones said in the social media post from Aug. 11. 

Jones told NTV that she’s “very thankful” for Govier’s brave deed. She praised him in their text message exchange, as seen in her Facebook post, and insisted to NTV that he deserves to be named FedEx’s employee of the year for “taking care of business.” 

The National Park Service urges people to give rattlesnakes “plenty of space and not handle them” to avoid being bitten.

“Bites are more likely to happen if you provoke or attempt to catch a rattlesnake,” the park service says.