Wriggling Surprise Lurked Under California Home

Reptile rescuer pulled nearly 100 rattlesnakes out of house's foundation
By Liz MacGahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 16, 2021 10:02 AM CDT

The number of snakes under a California house was a surprise to everyone, even the snake wrangler hired to deal with them. “I found a total of 92 rattlesnakes under that house—I was tickled pink,” Al Wolf, also the director of Sonoma County Reptile Rescue, told KGO. Not tickled pink was the owner of the house, who asked not to be named so as not to freak out her neighbors. She spotted a snake and called Wolf, who came out for free. Wolf does this a lot: He removes snakes from a house and takes them to the property of people who actually want rattlesnakes hanging around for pest control. What he doesn’t see a lot of is a nest this size.

His initial count was 59 babies and 22 adults, according to a Facebook post by the reptile rescue. He went back later to have another look and found 11 more snakes, bringing the total to 92. He also found a dead cat and a dead opossum, ABC News reports. Just in time for Halloween. The house was built on top of some rocks, which Wolf figures made it look like a cozy place for snakes to make a nest. He also thought the ongoing drought in the area could have sent them looking for a source of water.

Pulling nearly 100 snakes out from under a house might sound like grueling work to most people, but Wolf loves snakes. "Give me 300, as long as I can have enough containers, I'll do it all day long." There will probably be more, Wolf told NBC News. He expects the snakes will hibernate soon now that temperatures are dropping. Which might be reassuring for some people, but sounds more like an uneasy détente to others. Either way, Wolf “will go back in April and do another check,” he said. (More weird news stories.)

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