No one will be bitten by a deadly viper in one Southern California neighborhood, that’s because the snake never existed.
Santa Ana Police responded to a report of a suspected Gaboon viper in the backyard of a home along Cypress Ave Monday.
Reptile experts were called in to help and searched for it in the Santa Ana area, but they didn’t find a snake, or any indication that the one described to them had ever been there.
Investigators followed up Tuesday with the person who said they saw the snake and provided the original photo of it.
That’s when the story started to shed its skin.
The person admitted the photo was made with AI and that the report was false.
Police said while they thought from the beginning the image might’ve been created with AI, they still had to investigate the report and determine what actually happened.
“AI-generated images can look very real, and when false information is shared as fact, it can quickly create unnecessary fear, confusion, and concern in our community,” the Santa Ana Police Department said in an Instagram post.
Police had issued a warning about the fake snake to the public on Monday.
“We have received reports of a snake believed to be a Gaboon Viper, last seen in a tree within a residential neighborhood near Main Street and Edinger Avenue,” they said in a Facebook post at the time.
“Gaboon Vipers are highly venomous and are not native to North America,” police added.
These vipers are the heaviest venomous snake in Africa, weighing 18 pounds, according to Britannica. They also have the longest fangs of any snake, measuring up to 1.6 inches long.
The heavy-bodied Gaboon viper has tan, purple, and brown geometric pattern on its body. The velvet-like design serves as flawless camouflage, enabling the slow-moving viper to blend seamlessly into the leaf litter and roots of the forest floor.
