20 rattlesnakes found inside a homeowner's garage in Arizona

ABC News ^ | September 14, 2023, 4:17 PM | Staff

[Red Badger]

MESA, Ariz. -- An Arizona man called a snake removal company after seeing what he thought were three rattlesnakes lurking in the garage of his Mesa home. He was wrong.

There actually were 20 snakes — five adult western diamondback rattlers and 15 babies. One of the adult snakes also was pregnant.

Snake wrangler Marissa Maki found most of the rattlers coiled around the base of a hot water heater in the unidentified homeowner’s cluttered garage Tuesday.

“That is a lot of snakes. I’m not going to lie. This is crazy,” Maki said in a YouTube video recorded by the company, Rattlesnake Solutions.

The western diamondbacks, with their distinctive triangular-shaped heads, are found throughout the Southwest. And though their venom is far less toxic than other rattlesnake species, they still require care when being handled.

[Jonny7797]

I’ve been tempted to buy rattle snake venom for my dog because she runs around a lot off leash but have not done it. They also have classes to teach the dog to stay away from the rattle. Not done that either. She has first hand experience getting the poop scared out of her coming around corners to face a snake, and that seemed to do the trick for her.

[Dr. Sivana]

I don't know about Mesa, but in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks are normally found in the basement, not the garage.

[ansel12]

Start feeding the stray cats, they will rid you of that stuff.

[Qiviut]

Rattlers are safer than other poisonous snakes because they give you a sound warning when you get close.

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I did trail maintenance work for 16 years in mountains that were habitat for Timber Rattlesnakes. I can tell you from experience, they do not all rattle! Several, even when coiled to strike because we were hassling them to get them to move on from a work area, just did not rattle (& their rattles were not missing).

For the ones that do rattle, you may still be within their strike zone. What is really scary is to hear one & not see it so you don’t know which way to go to get away from a potential strike - that will get your heart racing for sure!

[Rio]

I can’t quite figure what a snakes is going to do if it actually CATCHES a sheep.

[entropy12]

I agree with every thing you said. Except other venomous snakes make not much sound except hissing. So occasional sound warning is helpful over no warning at all.

[Fledermaus]

Or get some king snakes

[karnage]

Heheheh

[JayGalt]

Glad I missed that uncovering. It’s all I can do to wipe my mind’s eye of the snakes slithering one by one into the ground.

[politicianslie]

I’ve seen snake repellent in HOME DEPOT.

Does that stuff work?

[Scrambler Bob]

Snake wrangler Marissa Maki found most of the rattlers coiled around the base of a hot water heater
= = =

It should have been a heat-pump water heater. Biden says that solves the problems.

[higgmeister]

Growing up in the 1960's our boxer dog, Candy, would bait and play with copperheads that lived under our antebellum outbuildings.   She was probably trying to protect us kids.   She was bitten twice, once on the side of her muzzle and once on the top of her head.   Her puppy named Pup was bitten on the head once.   The hair never grew back over the fang marks.   My parents took them to Dr. Batson each time but as far as I remember, he didn't do anything for them because the snakes had shaken them off before they could inject much venom.

[Robert DeLong]

Here You Go

[Henchster]

Here in AZ during the summer, we have hot water, and hotter water. Hotter water is what you get when you turn on the tap that is connected to the hot water heater!

[minnesota_bound]

Gonna need a bigger bucket!!!

[Graybeard58]

Be scared of aggressive snakes such as black mamba, bushmaster or saw scaled viper. Not only they are aggressive, their venoms are deadly.

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If I had to choose among venomous snakes to be bitten by, it would be copper head, they don’t always release venom when they bite. *EXCEPTION* The juvenile copperhead, distinctive by their yellow tip tail, they release all they’ve got.

[Graybeard58]

I’ve seen snake repellent in HOME DEPOT.

Does that stuff work?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If it’s moth balls, no it doesn’t.

[Graybeard58]

Snakes around here are so poor, they don’t have a pit to hiss in!

[jagusafr]

LOL - having lived in Tucson, your point is well taken!

[SJackson]

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