Slither and rattle: Bull Valley well maintenance included snake removal

No, this is not one of the snakes John, with McHenry Water Well and Pump, found in a well pit one day. But, at first
glance, it could have been. Well maintenance is more exciting than you might think.

It was like a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. John Matthesius, the owner of McHenry Water Well & Pump, was called out to a Bull Valley home to repair or replace a well pump that had ceased working. It was an older home with an older well. And it had a well pit. When John looked down into the pit, in the darkness, it seemed that the floor was moving. And then, he heard something rattling.

Going from home to home in Bull Valley you’re liable to see a lot of wellheads protruding from the ground like metallic mushrooms. But, some of these homes have well pits. The wellhead and well cap are found inside the well pit.

Well pits were common years ago as a means of protecting the water in wells from freezing. The well pit allowed the well to operate without extending up above the frost line (typically 32-48 inches). Here in Northern Illinois, such as in Bull Valley, the winter months are times when freezing temperatures could cause problems for the water pumping up from a well.

One problem with well pits was that they required proper drainage and the drains often clogged. Think about well pits as concrete boxes buried into the surface of the ground. If rain and/or groundwater gets into the pit and rises above the well cap, that water can make its way into the well and contaminate the well. Moisture in the well pit can also result in condensation that causes problems with the well’s electronics.

Well pits are also warm areas that can attract wildlife, such as squirrels, chipmunks, and even snakes. As a result, many municipal codes do not allow building well pits anymore. New wells are designed to operate without well pits and without freezing. But, back to the slithering, rattling well pit in Bull Valley.

When John pointed his light down into the well pit, he discovered that it did, in fact, have snakes. Put snakes together with rattles and the logical conclusion is that you’ve got a problem with rattlesnakes. According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, four species of venomous snakes are found in Illinois: cottonmouth, copperhead, timber rattler and eastern massasauga.

The cottonmouth is also known as a water moccasin. The other three are rattlers. Fortunately, the snakes in the Bull Valley well pit were not rattlers. Rather, they were black rat snakes. Black rat snakes are clever snakes, clever enough to simulate a rattler’s rattle to scare off predators.

While John didn’t have to worry about a venomous bite, he still had to clear the snakes out of the well pit. He quickly fashioned a makeshift snake-catching pole by slide some cable through a piece of conduit with a noose on the end. He slipped the noose around each snake’s head and pulled the cable so the snake was caught. Who knew that well maintenance and repair can also fit the description for a zoologist?