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County official: Potentially venomous snake in Geneva can't be verified

Q. When was the last time a venomous cottonmouth snake was spotted in Geneva?

A. A few days ago. Or maybe not.

Online and media-fueled reports of such a snake gained steam Wednesday, but confusion about the authenticity of a photo of the reptile may have prompted a wild-goose chase.

A roofer working on a home in the Mill Creek subdivision in Geneva said he and his crew spotted a large snake in the backyard this week, according to Brad Lundsteen, of Suburban Wildlife Control.

When the roofer initially showed Lundsteen a photo of a snake, he was under the impression the roofer took the photo himself.

The photo was shown to Kevin Luby, a naturalist at the Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn, who identified it as a venomous cottonmouth water moccasin.

Later, Lundsteen said, it was determined that there was a miscommunication, and the photo was a stock photo found online.

However, he added, the roofer claims that the snake he saw on Revere House Lane looks like the snake in the photo, Lundsteen said. He estimated that it is about six feet long.

"I don't want to write it off completely," Lundsteen said. "We've had weird animals pop up here before."

Brett Youngsteadt, Kane County Animal Control administrator, said county officials are searching the subdivision, as well as near schools and parks surrounding the area, to ensure that children are safe to go outside. Traps have been set near the home where the snake was allegedly spotted. The Kane County sheriff's department is involved in the search, he added.

Though the snake sighting can't be verified, the county will continue to take the search seriously, Youngsteadt said.

"We can't rule it out. We can't verify it," he said. "We're going to treat it as true until we get verification that it's not."

Cottonmouth snakes are not native to the area, Youngsteadt said. They can be found in the southeastern part of the U.S., and are sometimes found in southeastern Illinois near the Kentucky border, he said.

It is possible, he added, for a cottonmouth snake to have found its way to the northern part of the state through various means of travel.

Luby, however, said he finds this unlikely. He suspects the roofers saw a large water snake, which would be nonvenomous and would pose no threat, he said.

"I don't think there's any cottonmouth wandering around any place within a few hundred miles of here," Luby said.

Still, Youngsteadt encourages residents of the area to be alert, saying that the snake could be hiding because of the cool temperatures. It may emerge in warmer, sunny weather.

If a snake is spotted, Youngsteadt said, residents should not touch or approach it, but should call the sheriff's office at (630) 232-6840.

"We just want to make sure that everything is safe," Youngsteadt said.

  Brad Lundsteen of Suburban Wildlife Control builds a trap to try and catch a snake that was sighted near some homes on Revere House Lane in the Mill Creek neighborhood in Geneva. Wire netting was staked in between the houses to create a funnel for the snake to slither to and then into the trap. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Brad Lundsteen of Suburban Wildlife Control sets up a motion-activated camera near a drain pipe where he suspects a snake that had been spotted nearby might have used for access. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
  Brad Lundsteen of Suburban Wildlife Control is looking for a snake that was sighted near some homes in the Mill Creek neighborhood in Geneva. The snake had been seen twice moving between the two homes, so Lundsteen set up fencing that will funnel the snake toward the trap. Rick West/rwest@dailyherald.com
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