Rattlesnakes: The Neighbors are Restless

With the warm and slightly humid pre monsoon weather we have been having here in Portal, Arizona, the rattlesnakes have been on the move and are becoming more easily observed. I found a nice Western Diamondback on our sidewalk yesterday afternoon and another coiled up next to one of our outdoor turtle enclosures late last night. When they get this close to our house we move them out to a rock pile on the far corner of our property.

Western Diamondbacks are a denning snake and return to the same den every fall. These dens are often shared with other species of snake such as garter snakes, gopher (bull) snakes and others. Many people believe that snakes hibernate in these dens for the winter and that they become basically dormant. Recent camera work by field biologists have found this to not be true with much activity apparent within the den all winter. Some biologists think that friction of mass movement and body heat help retain the proper temperatures to maintain life in the den. Dens most often occur in what I call iceberg rock fissures. These occur when there is a rocky area above ground with a fissure going under ground to a much larger rocky area. It is maintained by some scientists that the rock above ground holds heat from the sun during the day and it is transferred underground to the rocks around the den area.

In our work we are often called upon to move rattlesnakes from people's homes or yards. This should only be done by knowledgable people with professional grade snake hooks or tongs. Recent studies have shown that moving Western Diamondbacks over 1/4 mile may prohibit them from finding their way back to their den in the fall resulting in death because they do not know where to go in the new area to spend the winter. This has been backed up with field work where transported rattlesnakes were given radio transmitters. Snakes moved less than 1/4 mile usually made it back to the den while those moved over 1/4 mile suffered a much larger mortality rate. We take all of this into account when we move snakes in our work.

Rattlesnakes are out now and if you live in rattlesnake country you should always be aware of the possibility of happening upon them. Enjoy them when you see them and just walk away. Remember, more people are bitten try to kill a rattlesnake than are killed when walking away. Even a rattlesnake has its place in the grand scheme of things.