(AP) — Officials in southeast Nebraska are on the hunt for a deadly rattlesnake spotted near a recreational lake that was initially mislabeled as only a mildly poisonous variety.

A Lincoln man and his son took photos of the large snake after spotting it at Burchard Lake in mid-August. A Nebraska Game and Parks official identified it as a western massasauga rattlesnake.

But Southeast Community College instructor and reptile expert Dan Fogell says it’s a timber rattlesnake, a dangerous breed that hasn’t been spotted at the lake for nearly 30 years.

Fogell says the bite of a timber rattler is poisonous enough to kill a person.

He hopes to find the snake and attach a tracking device to it.