The Whitewater Canyon Snake Incident

[bday123]

In 2004 when I worked at Top Gun, there was a morning that we came in, and there was a snake on the track at the end of the station right next to the drive box. No joke at all. How did it get there? No Idea. I remember one of my fellow crew members used a hight stick to remove it from the track and trapped it on the station floor under a bin that we had. We proceded to call the grounds crew and they came and removed it.

I always enjoy seeing the cats that inhabit the park.

Around 7-8 years ago I saw a cat wondering around the area where the lake used to be while waiting in line for The Beast.

I had forgotten all about that until reading this post!

[art_star]

i think in 2005, i was exiting Flight Deck and I saw a bunch of security guards and stuff getting a large snake out of a tree (close to the kodak spot in the exit path). The snake was probably about 3 feet long and pretty thick.

[Kings Island=good time]

I think the year was 1998 – 99 I got off work early (around 11:30pm) and was waiting on some friends to get done closing one of the shops. I decided to sit down on the concrete seat under the Eifel Tower near the theatre. While sitting there I saw something out of the corner of my eyes moving my way. I looked up and saw a skunk running straight at me. I only had time to lift up my feet as he ran by. He was staying very close to the concrete rubbing up against it has he went. Had I not lifted my feet up he would have climb right over them. I conceder myself lucky; if the skunk had ran over my feet without me seeing him first then I would have jumped and most probably would have needed to take a tomato bath.

There was also a little white cat that lived under the outdoor deck at the employee cafeteria. I would see him under the decking everyday or in a tree near the decking.

[XGatorHead 8904]

I don't know about any of you, but I've seen a lot of snakes in one of the AE tunnels. You really think KI would do something about that. They've been living there since 1991!

Seriously though, I've had plenty of encounters with animals there. My first (and scariest) was in what used to be a storage room for The Beast merch cart. The storage room was located in the line for Beast, across from the height check station. There was an animal that used to get in there and eat the candy that we stored in there. It was pretty disgusting throwing out the long licorice ropes that had been gnawed on. Well, one day I stuck the key in the door, opened the door, and I saw this fat, brown furry thing run towards me. I jumped and shut that door real quick. And of course I was not alone at the time, so the co-worker that was with me just had to tell everyone, and the jokes would not die the rest of the season. "Hey, seen any woodchucks lately?"

I have hit trashcans with broomsticks early in the morning to make sure no animals were in them, I had an encounter with an opossum that snarled at me in one of the employee areas, and have seen many cats in the park.

One of my associates found a young kitten one morning. We housed it in the kennel for the day, and the associate that found it wanted to take it home with her. But we all decided that the best thing to do was to turn it over to the Warren County Animal Shelter, so we did.

One morning one of my associates found a baby bird that had fallen out of it's nest. They scooped it up into a cardboard box and made a little nest for it in the box while we decided what to do. We ended up placing it back in the nest. Whether the mother bird accepted it back I don't know, but we made very sure not to touch it at all.

But the story that sticks out most for me, besides The Beast incident, is this one. One night, since we were having a relatively slow night, my manager and I decided to take a walk around the park. We were in Coney and we saw a group of guests staring into one of the islands in the middle of the midway. We approached them and they said that there was a raccoon in there. I got on the radio and paged Landscaping to come for the animal (they are, or were at the time, the department that reponds to animal calls). My manager and I stayed there to insure no guests tried to approach it. Landscaping got there in a few minutes with their animal catching equipment. About that time, a woman comes up and starts screaming at us, "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT DEFENSELESS ANIMAL? YOU'RE GOING TO KILL IT AREN'T YOU? I'M CALLING THE HUMANE SOCIETY, THE SPCA AND EVERYONE ELSE I CAN THINK OF! THIS IS NOT RIGHT! YOU NEED TO LET IT GO! IT DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! JUST GUIDE IT OVER TO THAT GATE OVER THERE! YOU CAN'T KILL IT!" The woman's husband and daughter just stood at a distance behind her, looking embarassed the whole time. Once, the husband tried to intervene, but the woman yelled at him for trying to pull her away. My manager and I tried to call the woman down (and keep her distracted) while the grounds crew did their thing. They trapped the animal and carried it off. The woman then screams "THAT'S IT! WE'RE LEAVING AND NEVER COMING BACK! Kings Island IS NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF ANIMAL MURDERERS!" I have no idea what Landscaping does with the animals it catches, but this woman just went ballistic on us. A ton of guests stopped and watched the whole thing, and we had numerous people come up to us afterwards, symapthizing with my manager and me. These guests told us that we handled the situation well and couldn't believe how we stayed so calm the whole time. It always feels good when people come up and say that you did something well, especially when people only tend to tell you about the negatives.

[gabelogan99]

Well, I will chime in here since the subject is animals and something I know a little bit about. Especially snakes. Now I will say that I absoultely HATE serpents and I have NEVER seen one at the park. However, I can tell you that all of the snakes mentioned are not entirely far-fetched inhabitants of Southern Ohio. Even rattlers. The most common type of rattler in Ohio, as someone kind of already hinted at, is the Timber Rattlesnake. For those of you who don't know, these are poisonous and potentially deadly and you should run as fast as you can if you ever see one. The distinct rattle on the end of the tail should give a fair warning; they won't chase you if you run because they are afraid of you too.

Copperheads are also common. Venemous. Again, run if you see one. These look very different from the black rat snakes which are nonvenemous and completely black. (And can get pretty long in size!) Black snakes are pretty harmless, but should be dealt with when seen. Now even though all of these stories on here are not officially confirmed by any official source, it would not surprise me if they have been spotted.

The most common place I would think you would see any snake of any kind would be precisely the location mentioned in the original post: walking back to the park from WWC. Again, this is the most likely place where you would SEE one, not necessarily the most popular place one might actually be. Any area like this one with a water source nearby would be a good place for a snake to set up shop.

As for the other stories, I pretty much believe all of them because I know the type of wildlife that live around those parts. Of course, the one I'm having a hard time believing is how a lion could have got all the way from Africa to International Street at Kings Island? (kidding)

[Purplehaze]

There are racoons, in the off season during the winter in the Entertainment dept we would go up in all the cat walks and there was always racoons. At international showplace there are no catwalks so we would walk across the beams and there were huge racoons up there.

[Jamesv7]

The only place that i have seen a snake at the park is by Flight deck.

[thatbandguy8807]

DAAAAANG! Now I'll be scared to even go near parts of the park. I don't like just about any outdoor critters...especially snakes and wasps/bees etc. (which is bad considering the stinkin' Wasp Infestation at the top of "Drop Tower" and the lift hill of SOB last season)

I never noticed any wasps at the top of any ride because I too hate wasps and bees

same here..im allergic to them..if im stung (which i found out once) that i pretty much stop breathing and have to be rushed to the hospital..but i have myself only seen squirls and bees commonly on my visits to the park. saw 1 wasp i think but i think a guest killed it by knocking it down to the ground with his hat and then stomped on it...guess he didnt like them either lol

[koolpkidude24]

I was with my cousin at the park yesterday, and I asked her if she remembered it (the large number of wasps at the top of "Drop Tower" last season), and she said that she did. What happened when we saw the wasps is this: We were on the ground and there were maybe three random wasps just hanging around the base of the tower. I remember specifically thinking to myself "There'll probably be less at the top..." Unfortunately, there were more. As we were going up, I saw one, then another, then a few, then five, ten, etc. I was afraid they would get behind my neck and I would squish them and they would sting me, so I leaned forward... Not my best Idea. So I spent that ride looking down, but I was more afraid of the wasps than Drop Tower!!!! Anyway, If it happens again, I'm reporting it....it was quite frightening!

[thatbandguy8807]

lol at least u can look down..i cant really stand heights...lol.although i would just be freaking out the whole time and i would prolly look insane if that happened to me lol. ppl would then prolly think i should end up in the looney house lol..(although sometimes they do anyways lol)

[gameGhost]

I've been going to Kings Island for over 25 years now, but this one summer, when I was around 14 or 15 was one of the most memorable. After riding Whitewater Canyon with my family, we were strolling along the concrete trail through the woods back to the rest of the park, when I looked over in the dirt next to the path. Right there in front of me, coiled up and moving ever so slightly was a copperhead snake, of around medium size.

Being deathly afraid of snakes (except the occasional King Cobra ) I ran back to the park as fast as I could, and my family followed suit. Copperheads are very, very dangerous.

Has anyone else encountered this at the park or ever heard of it being encountered at the park? And, does anyone know what the park does to prevent snakes and other animals from wandering into the park? I know with the park being located in such a wooded area that snakes and other critters are especially difficult to prevent. I certainly hope their snake prevention has gotten better since my incident. I've just not had much of a desire to ride Whitewater Canyon since.

never a snake but one time i did see a skunk in a trash can in the line for top gun.

[thatbandguy8807]

he was just hungry lol.although u gotta admit..the animals are sort of smart if they try to see if they can get food over night from a theme park lol..

[gabelogan99]

The wasps at the top of Drop Zone sound scary! I wouldn't wait to report it, but I'm not sure there's anything they could or would do about it even if you did. I have noticed bees up there. It was weird last year because they said there was a bee shortage. Maybe all the bees just decided to climb a little higher and nobody bothered to look up.

[DA RIPPER]

I've killed a black snake in line at Pipeline Paradise with a Bodyboard.

there's one warning to knowing you have a Copperhead around your presence is a smell of cucumbers.

for some reason Copperheads smell like Cucumbers. And don't go out smell for Cucumbers, I just know someone on here will try next time there at K.I

[thatbandguy8807]

I've killed a black snake in line at Pipeline Paradise with a Bodyboard.

there's one warning to knowing you have a Copperhead around your presence is a smell of cucumbers.

for some reason Copperheads smell like Cucumbers. And don't go out smell for Cucumbers, I just know someone on here will try next time there at K.I

lol whats sad is i could see that and i know someone would lol

[Tuskin]

Im going on a cucumber scavenger hunt when I go to KI

[thatbandguy8807]

lol...see like i said

[marlfox_21]

I am not doubting you. They are known to be in this region, so a copperhead is probably what you saw. And by running away from it, let me applaud you. Always step away from a snake that you know is dangerous, or one that you cannot identify. ( <- my personal pun ) Agkistrodon Contortrix is considerably mildly venomous with an LD/50 of only about 9. Meaning it's neurotoxin is going to give you a nasty hospital sleepover, but you should be fine. Not that I would recommend getting bitten by one. I consider you fortunate. After all, it is a good story to tell. However, even though I recognize that K.I. is naturally in a wooded area, I would not blame anyone with children to be disturbed to here this. However, the ratio of finding one, especially one next to the trail is a favoring factor.