(WSIL) -- A 12-year-old boy from Carterville is trying get Illinois to adopt a state snake.
This summer, Gentry Heiple learned there was no official designation and wrote to Governor JB Pritzker.
Months later, with no response Heiple decided to present the issue to State Representative Dave Severin.
The 7th grader says, the painted turtle is the state's official reptile and now it needs to have an official snake as well.
"Turtles eat crustaceans, fish, vertebrates which is an important job for keeping populations down but it's not as important as snakes eating rodents. Because rodents are disease carriers and can cause more issues than fish and crustaceans can." said Gentry Heiple, Carterville resident.
He hopes that the Fox snake will be chosen since they can be found in more than half of the state.
Severin has promised to file a bill on behalf of Heiple and give him a tour of the Capitol if he comes up to testify.
