This gate has been modified to keep rattlesnakes out of the courtyard, with no gaps small enough for a newborn rattlesnake, and no smooth surface low enough for the biggest in the state to get over.
https://rattlesnakesolutions.com/keep-snakes-away/snake-fence.php?p=social
This guy was hanging around right outside of several hotel room doors and making a real speck-tacle of himself. He was parked outside a deep cave I su-specked has been used by other snakes before as it went deep inside the rock. It was at an awkward angle with a structural pillar in the way and it was able to slip away into the cave on my first attempt. Went back about an hour later and was able to get him secured in the bucket. Walked him on the other side of the ridge and was able to find him a speck-tacular north facing cave just above a wash. – CJ
A homeowner in Dewey looked out her garage window and noticed a small rabbit hopping around frantically. After watching for a moment, she realized what had the bunny so worked up: a Mojave Rattlesnake was nearby.
Dane responded and safely relocated the snake from the property. Sometimes it’s the behavior of other animals that gives away a rattlesnake’s presence before anyone ever notices the snake itself.
A Mesa homeowner was taking the trash cans out when he spotted this baby Mojave Rattlesnake coiled underneath one in the backyard.
There wasn’t much about the yard itself that appeared particularly attractive to a rattlesnake. The bigger story is what surrounds it. This is a relatively new community surrounded by desert, with additional development continuing throughout the area.
As desert is converted into neighborhoods, young snakes dispersing across the landscape can occasionally find themselves navigating brand-new yards, walls, roads, and homes that weren’t there before.
Marissa safely relocated this little Mojave Rattlesnake.
This baby Mojave Rattlesnake was found all alone at a chemical plant in Mesa, surrounded by busy concrete surfaces that weren’t exactly the best place to start life.
Fortunately, the landscape surrounding the facility was a different story. Flat, sandy creosote scrub provided excellent habitat for a young Mojave Rattlesnake, with plenty of natural places to find shelter and begin life on its own.
Jason relocated the little rattlesnake away from the active areas of the plant and introduced it into a deep rodent burrow within suitable habitat, giving it a much better place to disappear underground and get started.
A worker walking past this AC unit suddenly heard a rattle coming from underneath it. There was a large rodent hole beneath the concrete pad, and when Marissa looked inside, she could see a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake tucked into the space.
Getting it out was another matter. Marissa used a hose to slowly add water to the burrow, eventually convincing the rattlesnake to leave its hiding place where it could be safely captured.
This side of the South Phoenix building backs directly up to South Mountain Preserve, and the rodent burrow beneath the AC pad provided exactly the kind of protected underground space a rattlesnake might take advantage of.
This Western Diamondback Rattlesnake had clearly just finished a very large meal when it was found outside an office building in North Phoenix. Security personnel told Jason that rabbits are common around the property, so there was no shortage of potential prey in the area.
The building sits adjacent to a desert preserve, putting rattlesnakes and other wildlife right alongside a busy developed area. With such a large meal still being digested, this was also a snake that needed to be handled particularly carefully.
Jason safely relocated the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake into a packrat nest in a nearby wash, where it could disappear underground and digest its meal in peace.
This was our third call to a distribution center in Tucson, and for the second time, a baby Western Diamondback Rattlesnake was found in almost the exact same area of the property.
After relocating the snake, Tanner walked the perimeter where the previous snakes had been found to make sure there weren’t any other stragglers. No others turned up.
Between the warehouse and the main road is a small drainage area covered in dense vegetation, providing plenty of shade and some water. It’s likely these young snakes are originating from that habitat and occasionally wandering onto the developed property.
The dogs found this Mojave Rattlesnake coiled quietly in the corner of the back porch.
At first, Jeff was a little surprised to find a Mojave Rattlesnake this far into a suburban neighborhood. Looking around the area provided a likely explanation. A drainage corridor runs through the neighborhood, providing a route the snake could have followed from surrounding habitat.
There wasn’t anything particularly attractive about this backyard from a rattlesnake’s perspective. Sometimes a snake isn’t seeking out a property for food, water, or shelter. It simply ends up there while moving through the landscape.
A rattlesnake in the middle of a neighborhood can seem out of place, but there’s usually a pretty reasonable explanation. Washes, retention basins, drainage corridors, greenbelts, and other undeveloped areas can create direct connections between desert habitat and neighborhoods. The crew responds to several calls where those connections are easy to see. By looking at the surrounding habitat, they’re able to explain how these rattlesnakes likely made their way into the neighborhood and why certain homes are more likely to encounter them.
