A Lot of Snakes at One Tucson Home

Some great examples of our snake fence team at work.

While arriving for an install, Josh conducted a thorough pre-inspection and found a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake sitting in ambush near the fence line. He safely secured it in a bucket, gave it some water, and kept it in the shade until the job was complete. Afterward, he released it into a nearby wash with a deep cave that provided suitable cover within its estimated home range. Later that day, Mike came across a California Kingsnake cruising along the newly installed mesh from the outside. To prevent it from getting trapped during the second day of work, Josh relocated it to a nearby area with a partially buried board and active rodent sign. Before release, he removed a cholla spine from its lower jaw, hopefully relieving some discomfort, and placed it back into suitable habitat within its estimated home range.

Snake Fenced Gate

A tight installation of rattlesnake prevention materials to this patio gate from Daylan and Elias. It’s a shady spot by design, which can’t be ignored by wildlife that are also looking to get out of the heat. Covered patios emulate natural locations where rattlesnakes can naturally be found aestivating during the summer, and snake fencing is an effective way of making sure there are no surprises.

Releasing Rattlesnakes Found at Job Site

A continuation of the post yesterday with the courting rattlesnakes that Addie found.

Here’s the site Josh selected to release the pair. These kinds of deep retreats are important to rattlesnakes, and critical to the continued success (surviving) in relocation.

It’s a great thing to have a crew installing snake fencing that also deeply understands the animals we’re working with. There are countless small decisions that are made during the installation that, beyond the technical specifications of the job, require an experienced person to just think “can a rattlesnake get through this?” and do the work.

As the owner of the company, I love to see these kinds of stories. This is what sustainable living in natural areas can look like. The snakes can continue to do their thing in their own home range, which is now slightly modified to exclude a backyard. There are a lot of people making snake fences these days … but you won’t find another crew like ours. Great job guys.

Smiths Blackheaded Snake

Josh found this little Smith’s Blackheaded Snake while working on a Rattlesnake Fence near Tucson the other day. This isn’t a baby – they’re tiny animals, which eat even tinier ones (invertebrates). They’re entirely harmless, and the snake was just moved to suitable habitat out of the way so it wouldn’t get injured while the installation progressed.