African snake found at suburban Chicago forest preserve

WHEATON, Ill. (AP) - A snake native to Africa has been removed from a suburban Chicago nature preserve after a visitor found the reptile coiled beneath her car.

The ball python was removed Wednesday from the Herrick Lake Forest Preserve in Wheaton after a woman who had been walking at the preserve noticed a large snake under her car and called police.

Sgt. Krist Schroeder, an officer with the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, grabbed the snake and removed it from the area, WLS-TV reported.

Schroeder said it wasn't the first time he's captured a snake at the preserve. He said he gets sad every time people dispose of animals there and wants to remind them that it is illegal to release pets or wildlife into forest preserves.

He said that doing so could harm the released animals as well as species native to the area.

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County manages 60 forest preserves that encompass nearly 26,000 acres (10,522 hectares).