There Are Four Poisonous Types Of Snakes On The Loose In Illinois And I Just Can’t Anymore

After a massive but nonpoisonous snake was found at Rock Cut State Park recently, there's been a lot of talk about what type of snakes are and which ones aren't venomous.

Luckily for us, Illinois doesn't have a ton of poisonous snakes that like to call Illinois "home." Matter of fact, there's four. For the most of us, four is more than enough.

Snake-removal.com lists them all.

• Southern and Northern Copperhead

Livescience.com says about the Copperhead Snake "a copperhead bite 'often results in temporary tissue damage in the immediate area of bite.' Their bite may be painful but is 'very rarely (almost never) fatal to humans.'"

• Western Cottonmouth

Uta.edu says "(Western) Cottonmouths can deliver a painful and medically significant bite.  However, this snake does not pose a serious health risk to humans.  In the United States one person per year dies from the bite of a cottonmouth."

• Timber Rattlesnake

According to files.dnr.state.mn.us "Because venom is costly for a rattlesnake to produce, and you are not considered food, a snake often will not actively inject venom when it bites. In fact, nearly half of all timber rattlesnake bites to humans contain little to no venom, commonly referred to as dry or medically insignificant bites. Death due to a rattlesnake bite is unlikely."

• Eastern Massasauga

According to chicagotonight.wttw.com, "The snake (Eastern Massasauga) reportedly bites one or two people on average each year in Michigan and Ontario, Canada, where the largest populations live."

The good news, most of these snakes don't seem interested in biting you and they're actually just as scared of you as your are them. The bad news, if you mess with one of them long enough they will probably bite you.

In that case, it's your fault. Long story short, if you get bit by a snake in Illinois, the follow up question should be, "What did you do to get it so angry?"

That said, if you happen to run across any of these snakes, especially the Eastern Massasauga, contact Rockford Wildlife Removal.

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Sweet Lenny is the brand manager of 97ZOK and Operations Manager for Townsquare Media Rockford. Catch him afternoons 3 to 7 on 97ZOK. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and like his page on Facebook.