Photos and video of two (of many) Western Diamondback rattlesnakes I captured and relocated — using a bucket, a broom and a sheet of Masonite — while living in Tucson, AZ. Rattlers were drawn to our backyard because it was a veritable Eden for wildlife. I released the rattlesnakes in the morning, when it was cool — making the snakes sluggish and picture-perfect.

NOTE: during the span of my experience– from 1993 to 2010 — our local Diamondbacks ‘evolved’ a much less aggressive ‘rattle’ when faced with a threat; sadly, I believe this is due to ‘humans’ destroying the loud rattlers they happened upon.  This means the chance of someone being seriously injured by a rattlesnake has dramatically increased.

It’s important to release rattlesnakes no more than a mile from where they’re found, or they will likely fair poorly — we often half-joked we were seeing the same rattler more than once.

Below: a video of one of my rattler releases