Nature & Environment

92 rattlesnakes removed from underneath house

By T.K. Randall
October 18, 2021 ·  1 comment

As if one of these wasn't bad enough... Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Aaron Goodwin Finding a snake in or near your home can be an unnerving experience at the best of times, but imagine finding several dozen of the reptiles - all cosying up directly underneath your feet.

This was the horrific reality for the occupants of a home in Sonoma County recently when a routine visit from a snake removal expert turned up a staggering 92 rattlesnakes.

The operation, which was carried out by Sonoma County Reptile Rescue director Al Wolf, saw 22 adults and 59 babies being removed from the foundations, followed by 11 more during a later visit.

According to Wolf, the most likely reason for there being quite so many of them was that the area beneath the house was full of rocks which made it an ideal place for them to give birth.This would also explain why so many of the snakes discovered there were babies.

"It's not typical in California at low elevations to have that many snakes, and it's definitely not typical for them to be under a home," said herpetologist Emily Taylor from California Polytechnic State University.

Surprisingly, most of the snakes were not hostile when they were removed.

"Rattlesnakes generally tend to be very secretive and do not want to encounter people and are only going to bite a person or a pet if they feel like their life is at risk," said Taylor.


Source: Live Science | Comments (1)

Tags: Rattlesnakes