This was a fun one, and the mark of the official start of “rattlesnake in a garage” season for our team. I was called to a home in Cave Creek where homeowners saw a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake that had come into the garage while the door was left open for a few hours in the afternoon. The snake rattled any time they tried to see where it was. I got there and started searching, and found it trying to escape by climbing up into some shelves.
On the release, I was careful to find a spot that emulcates the situation of capture – a suitable winter den. I went to an area where this would be likely, within the snakes estimated home range, and started searching. Within a relatively short amount of time I found a adult Western Diamondback Rattlesnake coming out from a dense packrat nest on a south-facing ridge – perfect. The garage snake was released here, a much better situation than it had been in before.
