To the utter panic of many workers inside a courthouse, snakes unexpectedly crept their way inside.

While the non-poisonous reptiles weren't a real threat, they did serve to give employees of a Mississippi courthouse the jitters.

Since April 8, five of the brown DeKay's snakes (earth snakes) have been discovered inside the Hinds County circuit clerk' basement office.

On Thursday, deputy clerk Kelly Phillips stated that the largest snake was only "big around as her finger and a few inches long," according to Huffington Post.

Although Phillips didn't take a measurement the snake, she did say that the smallest one looked similar to an overgrown earthworm.

"It was trucking across the floor," she said, pointing toward rows of rolling cabinets.

Phillips stated that she yelled out "Snake!" prompting several fellow employees to make a mad scramble. However, one individual picked up the snake with a paper clamp and took it outdoors.

Percy King, a former zookeeper that conducts reptile shows at local schools, went into the courthouse to identify the snakes.

He stated that DeKay's snakes, which eat worms, lizards, crickets and other small insects, have soft teeth that most likely couldn't rupture a human's skin.

"A snake that size could squeeze through any little hole," King explained.

Sadly, one of the snakes was inadvertently killed by a file cabinet while another was caught on a sticky trap left by maintenance workers.

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