This homeowner found a juvenile Western Diamondback Rattlesnake tucked into the corner of her garage behind some gardening tools. When Josh arrived, he carefully captured the snake and relocated it to suitable habitat within its estimated home range, where it was released into a rodent burrow.
The homeowner’s daughter was in the garage, and she just spotted the baby rattlesnake coiled under their leaf blower by the garage door. They had a little gap in the corner of the garage when the door was shut, and that’s how the snake got in. It had been raining really heavily the last few days, and the little one was probably getting out of the floodwater. The home had a drainage right beside it that led to a wash and then more desert. There was a lot of construction in this area as well. – Peoria, Arizona
One of many garage diamondbacks to come this year. The homeowner is from Canada and was absolutely shocked when he opened his garage door and came incredibly close to stepping on this large adult diamondback. The garage was sealed very well so the snake likely entered when the garage door was open. The homeowner says that he does tend to leave the door open for long periods of time here and there, which explains how it got in. The snake was probably trapped inside so its good that we got it out. Austin took it out into natural desert and found a nice packrat nest alongside a small drainage.
A homeowner heard a rattle when he got out of his car … in the garage. He didn’t see the snake, but that sound is unmistakable. He called our hotline, and Jeff went out to try and find it. It wasn’t visible, but tapping the ground with his tongs made it sound off from the corner near a water softener. With no clear entry point and garage door seals well maintained, it likely just wandered in while the door was open at some point.
As always during this time of year, the snake was released to a spot suitable for over winter hiding. In this area, that means a deep packrat nest (shown here).
This was a fun one. Cheyenne responded to a call for a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake in a garage. The homeowners had been noticing things knocked over in there recently, so this is not the culprit they’d expected. They were surprised such a large snake hadn’t rattled at them … but that mystery was also solved. It’s missing its rattle entirely, including the last segment, so this snake is unable to give its characteristic warning. Cheyenne was careful to release the snake to the right area.
A very typical snake relocation call for this time of year – a homeowner went into the garage and heard a rattle, and knew exactly what it was. The garage door was left open for awhile earlier in the day, which is likely when this Western Diamondback Rattlesnake entered looking for a safe winter spot. Marissa helped the snake get to a better location.
Something to keep in mind as you start digging through boxes of decorations you haven’t touched since January: From now through mid-March, the most common snake call we will get will be to retrieve snakes found in garages. These are not snakes that “are out”, but ones that are being found at their chosen winter home. They may move around the garage, changing position to regulate against changing temperature and humidity, and other factors.
Here are a couple garage snakes, of many to come.
