GREENVILLE - Utility officials say a snake caused a power outage that left more than 4,000 customers without electricity in northwestern South Carolina.

Duke Energy spokesman Ryan Mosier told local media outlets it was a snake that left Greenville County residents in the dark around 5 a.m. Wednesday.

It took about 90 minutes to completely restore service.

Mosier says the utility constantly works to improve barriers to prevent snakes, squirrels and birds from causing outages. But he says the small animals remain a big reason for power outages.