Today we found another rattlesnake on our property. Instead of being coiled atop the yard retaining wall like the first one, a week ago, this one was hanging on a grate over top of the cement well that leads to the crawlspace underneath our house. Scary.

Both of them appear to be juveniles, but finding them both so close together, after having never found even one in about seven years, leads us to worry that a batch hatched nearby not so long ago.

We did them in with a shovel, after calling animal control people, who said they'd just do the same thing with poisonous snakes. I hate doing it, but it's them or us, I guess.

Given how close the second one was to the house, I'm now looking on the step outside the door before leaving, just in case. We have pet worries, too, of cours, because the dogs like to go up in the vines and play in the yard.

It could be gophers attracting them, or small birds, both of which are abundant in our yard. I wouldn't mind non-poisonous snakes eating the gophers, but we'll have to keep an eye out for more of them now.




Here's the first one, in a metal bucket where it met its doom.