The Rattler in the Shop

I like snakes and my husband likes snakes.  That doesn't mean that we don't have a great deal of respect for venomous snakes.  I was probably the only little girl in my neighborhood who was bitten by a non-venomous water snake - while playing by the creek waiting for my mother to pick me up after ballet practice.  I picked it up incorrectly, so I deserved the bite.  I also had fun catching garter and corn snakes while my first husband was shore fishing at high country lakes - at least I wasn't "skunked" because I'd always find at least one snake to catch (he thought I was nuts - guess that's one of the reasons why we aren't married anymore).

We have a subspecies of the western diamondback rattler in our area called the Great Basin rattlesnake.  They are non-aggressive, and would rather slither away from you than attack.  Of course, any snake will attack when stepped on, or threatened, or handled roughly.  Back to the story....

My husband isn't very good about closing up his shop at night.  After Say's Phoebe birds nested in his shop last year he at least tries to close the "garage" type door now, but it is usually open at least an inch at the bottom.  Plenty of room for rodents to enter, and therefore, plenty of room for snakes to follow.  Several months ago my husband walked into his shop and heard the loud rattling of a decent sized snake.  Once he found where it was, he got his snake stick and brought it outside.  He sent me for the camera.  I shot some decent footage as he played Steve Irwin (RIP Steve!) with the snake, and while our neighbor (who happened to stop by at the right moment) got the snake bucket.  Those of us around here who don't mind snakes, and realize their value in rodent control, usually put the snakes in a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, and drive them several miles down our road (unoccupied land) to release them.  We've only seen two other rattlers this year, although we have seen  many more gopher snakes (they are such fakers! - they have patterns similar to the rattlers, curl up, puff up their heads, and hiss at you - but they don't bite when picked up).    I hope you enjoy the video.