'No Charges Filed': ​Palos Park Police Free Legless Intruder

PALOS PARK, IL — Police sprang to action Thursday when one area resident called on authorities to help him or her remove a particularly unwanted intruder from a Palos Park home.

In a social media post, police said Palos Park officers were called to the home by a young resident who had found what appeared to be a common fox or water snake, neither of which are venomous.

Police said the serpent pushed back against their efforts to extricate it by sticking its tongue out — an understandable, if not sassy, reaction — but was ultimately moved outside.

"PPPD staff, being trained professionals defused the situation and the trespasser was removed peacefully," police said. "No charges filed."

According to the Humane Society of the United States, Americans who find a nonvenomous snake in their lawn should ignore the snake, allowing it to continue as it was. Anyone who encounters a venomous snake should call animal control or a local police or fire department.

Nonvenomous snakes can be safely removed from the home using a broom to heard the creature toward an open door.

Snakes that refuse to go outside can be confined to a room or covered with a weighted pail or box until an experienced handler arrives.

"Some of the larger [snake] species may cause problems around poultry houses, occasionally taking chicks or eggs, but—except for the venomous species— snakes are not a threat to humans or their pets," according to the Humane Society's website. "That does not convince people who have a deep-seated fear of these animals that they are harmless, and the fear some people have at even a glimpse of these reptiles contributes mightily to what are real conflicts between humans and snakes."