A homeowner in San Tan called after discovering a small rattlesnake coiled in the corner of their home’s entryway. The home is in a well-developed gated community, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the visitor was actually a young Sonoran Sidewinder. The property sits along the outer edge of the neighborhood, where a wall separates the homes from a large expanse of natural sandy desert habitat, making it easy to see how this little snake found its way into the community. After securing the Sidewinder, Alivia hiked it farther into its estimated home range, away from roads and buildings, and released it into an active ground squirrel burrow beneath creosote and other native desert vegetation.
