WESLACO – A Hidalgo County family discovered a 4-foot long snake hiding under the couch in their home while they were celebrating Easter.

Cortney Rico said she was cleaning up inside the house when she discovered the snake.

She said she found it coiled up behind their recliner.

“I panicked. I freaked out. My husband was asleep because he has to work early, so I decided to call the sheriff’s department. They didn’t know what to do. And actually, the officer they sent was deathly afraid of snakes. So he didn’t know how to handle it,” Rico said.

She ended up waking up her husband, who used a broom to fling the snake outside where he killed it.

“It was about four feet. I measured it,” she said.

Amber Schmitt, the lead park interpreter for Bentsen State Park, quickly identified the snake the Rico family found to be a Texas Bull Snake.

“Totally non-venomous but could end up in somebody’s yard going after baby chickens, or mice around, birds nesting in the yard or chimney,” she said.

The Rico family’s yard is currently home to several newborn chicks.

Schmitt said the family’s Chihuahuas are too big for the snake to prey on. She said Rico’s husband did the right thing using a broom to get the snake outside.

“You can use a broom to herd the snake out. You don’t want to push it. They won’t like that and will start to get defensive but you can just sort of herd it out,” she explained.

Bull Snakes do bit if someone gets too close.

Schmitt said it’s best to keep them alive. It’s rare for them to end up inside a home though.

“It’s as scared as you are, and definitely once you got it out into its natural habitat, it’s going to be gone. So no reason to kill it, because you definitely want it around to take care some of those other pests you have around,” she said.

The Rico family is still baffled how it got in their living room without their roosters, dogs or visitors taking any notice.