Rattlesnake gives birth to 12 babies on Arizona family’s patio. ‘They’re all slimy’
The discovery of a rattlesnake on an Arizona family’s patio turned chaotic when the 3-foot female proved to be in labor.
Western diamondbacks don’t lay eggs, they give live birth — and their venomous babies are numerous.
YouTube video posted by Rattlesnake Solutions shows the babies were still sliding out as snake catcher Marissa Maki picked the mom up with tongs and placed her in a bucket.
“They’re all slimy still, oh my gosh. She just had them,” Maki is heard saying. “I’ve never seen them that fresh.”
The family’s dog found the mom, and her growing brood was nearby, hiding behind a bush.
The horrified family looked on as Maki plucked the babies out, one by one. The final count was 12 babies, each 8 to 10 inches long.
“That’s so cool to see them this young, just starting life,” Maki said. “So amazing.”
It’s one of two such calls Rattlesnake Solutions handled the same week, the other involving a rattlesnake giving birth in a Queens Creek garage, southeast of Phoenix. Snake catcher Jeff Martineau was sent to the garage and he got suspicious when the adult rattlesnake seemed grumpier than most rattlesnakes.
It tried biting the bucket he put it in, video shows.
Martineau searched the garage a second time, including getting on his hands and knees and to look under cabinets. That’s when he noticed a pile of six babies. A seventh was found wedged between an appliance and the wall, forcing him to squeeze his arm into a narrow opening to get it.
Bryan Hughes, owner of Rattlesnake Solutions, says August and September is when baby rattlesnakes start showing up everywhere. Rattlesnake babies typically stay with their mom a week to 10 days, until they shed their skin, he says.
“Then they head out into the world on their own. During that time ... these baby snakes don’t necessarily know where to go or what to do, so they end up in a lot of interesting situations, random situations,” Hughes says.
“If I’m going to get a rattlesnake in a mall or in a grocery store, it’s usually a baby.”
It’s a myth that these babies are more dangerous than adults, due to delivering more venom in bites, he says.
“It’s not true. Baby rattlesnakes have just as much control over venom expenditure as adults,” Hughes says. “While a bite from a newborn rattlesnake is still an emergency situation, bites from adult rattlesnakes are usually more dangerous due due to much higher potential venom yield and other factors.”
All snakes caught by Rattlesnake Solutions are released unharmed into Arizona wilderness areas.
Video shows creative way rattlesnake was coaxed out from under mini fridge in Arizona
Rattlesnake wakes woman in middle of night, then takes over her bedroom in Arizona
Dirt bike crash sends Tennessee man toppling over timber rattlesnake. ‘I levitated’
