It's official - The Arizona Republic says so. From this morning's AZ Republic:
Watch out, the snakes are back
William Hermann The Arizona Republic Mar. 25, 2006 12:00 AM
Snakes of all kinds, including rattlers, find the warmer weather to their liking and are emerging from hibernation.
When daytime temperatures climb into the high 70s, snakes come out to eat and breed.
So people on desert hiking trails and homeowners on the Valley's fringes are beginning to cross paths with reptiles.
Russ Johnson, Phoenix Herpetological Society president, says snake calls have begun.
Scottsdale Fire Department Deputy Chief Garret Olson said his department is also getting calls. Last year, it took almost 1,600 snake calls.
A little common sense is all it takes to avoid a snakebite. Obviously, do not chase or pick up any snake. And in desert areas, "don't put your hands and feet where you can't see where they're going," Johnson said.
He also advises against killing any snake. "Would you rather have a snake or a rodent?" he asked. "Snakes are very effective rodent control."
Scottsdale fire officials recommend people call the Herpetological Society, "unless there is a threat to human life."
I was sent out to remove one in the first week of Jan, but it was located in a garage. Night hike last night I had several moths attracted to the light.
I was out at picketpost this weekend for the annual trail building event. While my buddy and I were sitting around one of them snuck up on us. We were sitting, me next to the tent and him inside with the door open, when a diamond back came crawling around the front of the tent, easily within arms reach of either of us. He saw the head sticking out from the side of the tent and apprehensively asked "what's that". "oh" I said, "its a rattler". he promptly zipped up the door and peeked out the screen. The snake was about three feet long with a three to four inch rattle, he slithered right past us as if we weren't there.
yup, came across a rattler on the Lost Goldmine trail last Friday. Actually, it was my wife and her friend who had taken point since my pace was too quick for them. Nothing is quite so recognizable as that hiss/rattle sound. Nobody was bitten, luckily. I managed to convince them that if they just walked around the snake with some distance, it wouldn't sprout legs and come at them with a revolver holstered on it's coiled frame.
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From this morning's AZ Republic:
