Rattlesnake Sightings In Rocklin Have Residents Concerned
ROCKLIN (CBS13) — Warmer weather is bringing rattlesnakes out of their habitats and into yours. One woman in Rocklin was shocked to find one hiding in her garage!
"A four-foot Rattlesnake in the garage is actually fairly common!" said Lou Fraser, owner of Rattlesnake Removal USA.
The hotter it gets, the more the slithering serpents are seeking a hideout.
"When it's a really, really hot day like the heatwave that we just had, that's going to cause snakes to want to find a cool spot!" Fraser said.
On Wednesday, Shauna Campbell opened her garage in Rocklin and spotted a four-foot rattlesnake lurking in a dark corner!
"I'd probably move if I'd seen that," said Jeff De La Cruz.
But he had his own scare working in his Lincoln backyard.
"I seen a snake skin that was probably about a couple feet long!" he explained.
Immediately his wife Lisa thought there had to be a snake nearby.
"Yeah, I definitely was a little creeped out," she told CBS13.
So she called Fraser to take a look.
"This is an area that does have rattlesnakes," he said. "Once they find an area that has an abundant food source, they're really going to make it a snake motel."
So how do you keep them from moving in? Fraser recommends that homeowners trim those overgrown bushes and clean up clutter in sheds and garages.
"If our garage has stuff all over the ground and a snake comes in it, it's going to be a lot easier for the snake to hide," he said.
But the good news for the De La Cruz family, the skin in their yard came from a garter snake.
"The rattlesnake is not going to want to compete with the yard," Fraser told the couple. "The snake is likely to choose your neighbor's yard over your yard because you already have non-venomous snakes in it."
As a mom with a toddler, Lisa said she's happy to hear the all-clear from a pro.
"Better safe than sorry," she said.
The best thing you can do is to get rid of piles of things and overgrown brush around your home. And you want to make sure you don't have any snakes settled in before the birthing season in July when rattlesnakes start having 15 to 20 babies at a time.
