Snakes attracted to Venice Road

George Lebron was doing his best impression of Steve Irwin, but his houseguest was doing a pretty good impression of a rattlesnake.

"This is the first time I've ever seen one of these before," said Lebron, 33, using a broken rake handle to stave off a 3-foot snake slithering through his yard last week. "I've lived here 10 years and I've never seen these before."

It was the second time in a week this same species of snake had been lured to his property by an air-conditioning unit outside his home.

This past weekend, someone else at Lebron's home called police after discovering a 3-foot-long snake coiled inside the unit. The brown-and-gold snake rattled its tail every time they got near it.

"I kept thinking it was a rattlesnake," he said, later discovering the reptile didn't have a rattle. He figured it was harmless.

Lebron, who lives near Cold Creek Trout Camp off Venice Road, was baffled by this creature that had so brazenly trespassed into his life.

His home is 20 yards from the Sandusky Bay shoreline, buffered from it only by a set of railroad tracks and some thick bramble, trees and rocks. It's the perfect habitat for the species of snake that's been visiting his home this past week: the eastern fox snake.

"It's basically a wetland type of snake," said Scott Butterworth, wildlife management supervisor at Ohio Department of Natural Resources' District 2. "It's one we watch. We realize they're in limited distribution."

The eastern fox snake is native only to northwest Ohio and lives only in wet areas near rivers and the lake. ODNR lists it as a "species of concern," meaning any fluctuation in wetland availability or water quality could endanger the snake.

In the right habitat, such as Lebron's backyard, they're not rare.

Butterworth said the eastern fox snake, like a number of other snakes, rattles its tail as a defense mechanism.

"People who aren't familiar with them automatically think of it as a rattlesnake," he said. "It's a non-venomous snake."

Doing his best Irwin impression -- minus the late Animal Planet star's Australian accent -- Lebron ran circles around the snake, trying to keep it in one area so he could pin it down with his rake handle and grab its head.

After some trial and error, he managed to secure the beast just like he saw Steve Irwin do.

But Lebron doesn't take himself for much of an animal show host.

"I don't really like snakes," Lebron said. "I never even picked up a snake before I picked up this one."