The dangers of snakes usually come from getting too close and chancing a bite. But this week it is the reptiles as aggressors, knocking out power in Durham and Rolesville.
On Thursday night, about 7,000 Rolesville Duke Energy customers were left in the dark for two hours after a snake came into contact with substation equipment.
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It was a repeat of a similar situation.
In Durham on Monday, almost 10,000 customers were knocked offline when a black snake got into the substation near Ashe Street.
Both nights saw thunderstorms, but it wasn't lightning or high winds that knocked out the power.
Jeff Brooks with Duke Energy said, "You think about trees, you think about lightning causing power outages, cars hitting utility poles, but animals like squirrels and snakes are one of the top five causes of power outages on our system.
"They're very agile and inventive creatures. You can build all kinds of protections; they find ways
to drop down from trees and get into the systems other ways."