This is the second rattlesnake in my yard in a few weeks, plus the one I relocated from my neighbor's yard. I've never seen one in my yard before though I've seen a couple on this block relatively close.

What I'm guessing is that this is actually a normal number of rattlesnakes, but I am seeing them now because I'm usually not here in early May, plus we had that bizarre heat wave in late March, which probably woke all the snakes up and brought them out of hibernation early. This is also probably why it feels like there are far more lizards than I've ever seen here before. I usually have to leave by late April and it's usually not this hot yet.

The fact that we had an extremely dry winter and there's virtually no annual vegetation growing anywhere probably also contributes. No plants means no flowers which means no seeds which means no food for rodents, so I'm guessing that snakes probably have to wander much further to try to find a meal.

#Rattlesnake #HerpReport #LizardReport #snek

This afternoon I was planting some cactus in the front yard and I saw the big gopher snake again, slithering along the wall…

"Gopher snake"... um... then I saw the black and white striped tail and the rattles as it emerged from behind a cactus. Another western diamondback rattlesnake!

I got my camera with the telephone lens and got a bunch of close-ups, then went back to get my snake stick and a bucket. Unfortunately the critter was behind a very spiny hedgehog cactus and pulling it out would have potentially hurt it, so I let it get away into the rock pile.

I continued about my work, and then saw it a little while later over under the pomegranate tree. Then a few minutes later I didn't see it. It's out there somewhere 🤷‍♂️

Given that I don't have to get under the house to do any work anytime soon, I'm not gonna worry about it.

I'll just think of it like inspector Clouseau's manservant Cato, there to keep me on my toes.

#LizardReport #Rattlesnake #snek #HerpReport #NoStepOnSnek

I walked up to the snake, slid my snake hook under it, lifted it up and dropped it in the bucket. Quite a simple quick move, but unfortunately it was able to hook a small bit of its head and upper body over the edge of the bucket and then slither out before I could plop it in. At that point it got scared and tried to make it run for it and so it took me a couple more tries to actually get it in the bucket. It never once tried to strike or even rattle.

They really are quite docile creatures that mostly want to be left alone.

The neighbors were very grateful that I took it away.

By the way, I learned how to handle snakes like this by watching professional herpetologists. If you do it right it's quite safe. The snake hook I use is made out an old golf club with the head cut off. I fabricated a large metal hook that I epoxied into the shaft.

#Rattlesnake #Snake #HerpReport #LifeInTheSonoranDesert