Rattlesnakes coming out of hibernation thanks to rising temperatures in the Valley

CAREFREE, Ariz. - "One of the snakes -- the first one when he cleaned the grease trap -- and he pulled this out. The snake was laying in the grease trap."

Jeff Vandrie says the guy he hired to clean his grill saw two more snakes.

"He said he saw a small one and a large one underneath, so maybe he saw two," he said.

Vandrie and his wife spend a lot of time in the backyard of their Carefree home and so does their precious pooch, Reggie.

"My concern mostly is is our dog up here in the driveway, the front of the house," Vandrie said. "I don’t really care if they’re near the house. I will relocate them in the desert, on the back patio. We’ve got a dog and that’s the only place he goes. He doesn’t come out here, so yeah, that’s my biggest concern."

Since he was worried there were multiple snakes, Vandrie called Rattlesnake Solutions.

"At your home, they’re going to be hiding any place they could have stayed cool or stayed warm throughout the winter -- grill, islands, any kind of rock feature that has caves that goes underneath," Bryan Hughes said. "It sheds any access under house, any little cave they can get."

Hughes says rattlesnakes typically start coming out in mid-February.

Hughes doesn’t recommend you remove them yourself unless you have training. He also says eliminating hiding places like landscape and putting up physical barriers will keep rattlers out.

"We only found the one. We haven't seen one since. I have been checking multiple times a day," Vandrie said.

Rattlesnake Solutions caught one snake. Jeff is keeping his eyes open for more and keeping Reggie safe, just in case.

Rattlesnake Solutions
https://rattlesnakesolutions.com/

Phoenix Herpetological Society
Rattlesnake Rescue & Removal
https://www.phoenixherp.com/assistance/rattlesnake-rescue-and-removal.html