Slithering snake is blamed after thousands lose power in Alabama. What happened?

A slithery culprit caused thousands of electricity customers in Alabama to lose power this week.

Marshall Dekalb Electric Cooperative, based in Boaz, experienced a power loss to about half of its system - 11,567 customers - just before noon on July 5, a spokeswoman for the company told McClatchy News.

When engineers responded to investigate, they found a rat snake hanging from some equipment at a substation in Albertville.

The snake had slithered up the equipment and ended up on top of an insulator, the spokeswoman said. The snake’s body caused a circuit to falter and power to go out across the system.

The power company posted a graphic photo of the snake hanging from the substation.

Power was restored after about 30 minutes, according to the company.

The snake, however, was “beyond dead,” the spokeswoman said.

Boaz is about 75 miles northeast of Birmingham.