"Because 252 is the telephone area code for Kitty Hawk, North Carolina".
I visited OBX a couple times about 2 years ago. Once I was camping for several days and once I rented a place on the beach for a week. There is a nature conservatory in Kill Devil Hills which has about 5 trails to hike. There are fairly large freshwater ponds in the forest. One was covered with green growth and had a squiggly clear line on top which seemed to ask for an explanation. My wife said "I wonder if a snake did that?" 20 yards down the trail a big water moccasin crossed the trail in front of us. So I said " I think so." We saw a couple coming from the other direction and I said "not to scare you, but a big snake just crossed our trail." They said "one crossed our trail too." I saw a local sitting on a bench near the start of the trail and asked her if she often walked the trail. "Almost every day was her reply." So I asked "do you see many snakes?" Just about every day, she said. The conservatory is an amphibious heaven. Turtles, frogs, snakes. Nice place to visit and walk off breakfast.