Photo by Rebecca Siegel.

A cryptic “facilities issue” closed the Georgetown Library early on August 4, and the doors remained shuttered on the 5th and 6th, but now we know exactly what that issue was: snakes!

An employee of the library reported a live snake found in the lower level on Saturday, says George Williams, a spokesperson for the D.C. Public Library. As the Washington Post first reported, another employee found two more snakes downstairs.

That’s when the library called pest control and decided to close two hours early. Georgetown Library remained closed until pest control came in on Monday to inspect the entire building and exterior. They found one additional snake (this one was dead), put down snake repellent throughout the building, and sealed up places where snakes could enter.

The snakes seemed to be garter snakes, according to Williams, which are thin, nonvenomous creatures that pose little harm to humans and are common in the region. Rain, like the deluge that has recently affected the region, can often cause snakes to seek refuge in dry places.

Georgetown Library reopened on Tuesday. The last time a location was closed because of pests was Northwest One Library, which shuttered for a day in June after a bedbug spotting and reopened the following day after treatment.

The incident also brings to mind the deer that crashed into a window at the Washington Highlands Interim Library in January 2012, causing the site to close for the day. Ultimately, the window fared better than the deer, which was euthanized by Animal Control after suffering a broken jaw.

The worm-sized snakes, however, did not cause any damage to the library, says Williams.

It seems like the D.C. Public Library has no hard feelings over the reptiles. A previously scheduled “Reptiles Alive” show will continue as planned at 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Georgetown branch, promising “exciting stories about how the animals survive while meeting an exotic cast of snakes, lizards, turtles and other amazing animals.”