RFK Jr. catches two snakes on Dr. Oz's patio.
RFK Jr. Grabs Snakes Barehanded As Cheryl Hines Pleads
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. found himself center stage when he had yet another unusual wildlife encounter — this time involving two writhing black racer snakes, an alarmed Cheryl Hines, and a beachfront patio belonging to Dr. Mehmet Oz.
He posted a video showing how he grabbed two black racer snakes with his bare hands while the reptiles repeatedly twisted, lunged, and appeared to bite him. Throughout the encounter, Hines could be heard desperately pleading with her husband to let the animals go.
The footage, filmed at Oz’s Palm Beach-area home, quickly spread online as viewers focused on the snakes themselves as well as Hines’ increasingly frantic reactions as Kennedy calmly smiled through the chaos.
The Health and Human Service, however, was in his element and smiling as he caught the snakes and showed them to the camera.
And, if there's anything to know about RFK Jr., it's that the moment was on brand because the 72-year-old has been capturing for the camera since 1961 when he introduced the world — and his uncle John F. Kennedy— to his pet salamander "Shadrach."
RFK Jr.’s snake video quickly turns into viral Cheryl Hines moment
RFK Jr. wrangles with two snakes as wife Cheryl Hines Dr. Oz look on.
In the video, Kennedy approaches the snakes as they slither together in the corner of Oz’s patio.
“Cheryl cheerleads the removal of a pair of Black Racers from Dr Oz’s patio,” Kennedy captioned the footage on social media.
At one point, Oz can be heard explaining that the snakes had been mating moments earlier.
“Well, they were having s-x,” Oz says in the clip.
Kennedy then lifts the very fast snakes into the air as they continue twisting around his hands. One of the snakes appears to snap at his fingers while Hines repeatedly warns him to stop.
“Moccasins!” Hines exclaims after she briefly misunderstands Kennedy when he identifies the species. “Those are dangerous!”
“No, they’re not moccasins,” Kennedy replies.
As the snakes continue biting at his hands, Hines becomes increasingly distressed.
“Okay, honey, let them go,” she says. “Bobby! Bobby, Bobby, please,” she pleads.
In another moment captured on video, Hines tells her husband bluntly, “You’re nuts.”
RFK Jr.’s long history of unusual animal encounters resurfaces
RFK Jr. has an affinity for wildlife.
The snake encounter is only the latest in a long line of animal stories surrounding Kennedy, whose fascination with wildlife has made headlines over the years.
Only earlier this month, Kennedy posted a photo where he held a live bird at Washington Dulles International Airport. He described the situation as a “starling rescue.”
In 2024, Kennedy said that federal officials had investigated an incident that involved a whale carcass. Apparently, his daughter Kick Kennedy had shared the news that he had cut the head off a beached whale decades earlier and had transported it home.
Later that year, Kennedy also spoke about a photo where he posed with a bear carcass after telling a story about leaving the dead animal in New York City’s Central Park.
The latest snake video added yet another chapter to Kennedy’s growing reputation for unusual encounters with animals, such as the infamous raccoon incident.
Florida black racer snakes are nonvenomous but defensive
RFK Jr. shows off pet salamander to his uncle JFK while in the Oval Office.
Black racers are common throughout Florida and are frequently found near suburban homes and patios.
The snakes are nonvenomous and generally avoid humans, but they will bite when they are cornered or grabbed as seems to be the case when RFK Jr. got hold of them.
That detail did little to calm Hines as she watched Kennedy grin holding the twisting snakes as she pleaded for him to stop.