The other day, my next-door neighbor had a most unpleasant discovery, a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) lurking in his woodpile. All that could really be seen of the rattlesnake was it's loudly rattling tail.

My neighbor then called the fire department, and they sent their rattlesnake collector out.

The rattlesnake was pulled, puffed up and rattling furiously, out of the woodpile with a metal snake grabber and placed into a wooden box already filled with other collected rattlesnakes.

The captured rattlesnakes will be released into an uninhabited area where they won't pose a threat to humans or domesticated animals. My neighbor previously had a bad experience with a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake when one bit his dog on the face. Luckily, with prompt veterinary care, his dog survived the rattlesnake bite. Dogs are at special risk from rattlesnakes because many dogs will aggressively confront rattlesnakes, only to end up with a life-threatening snake bite on the head or neck. Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes are rather aggressive and irritable rattlesnakes, and they are more likely than many other rattlesnakes to strike if disturbed.