how to diminish the value of your house...

[Ken Gargett]

Meet the man who pulled nearly 100 snakes from under an SF Bay Area home

 

Amy Graff, SFGATE

Oct. 13, 2021

 

   

Sonoma County Reptile Rescue on Oct. 2 retrieved nearly 100 snakes from a den under a Santa Rosa home.

Al Wolf

Snakes on a plane?

No, but there was definitely a movie-worthy amount of snakes living under a house in Santa Rosa, a city in California's Wine County 60 miles north of San Francisco.

Al Wolf, director of Sonoma County Reptile Rescue, responded to a call Oct. 2 from a woman who said a snake den was under her home. 

 

Al Wolf of Sonoma County Reptile Rescue poses with a snake in 2019. On Oct. 2, he retrieved nearly 100 snakes from a den under a Santa Rosa home.

Al Wolf

On the first visit, Wolf found 59 newly born babies and 22 adults, as well as a dead cat and a dead possum. 

On two follow-up visits, Wolf wrangled 11 more adults. 

"I've been doing this 32 years," said Wolf, who runs the Sebastopol-based nonprofit offering wildlife rescue and relocation. "I get calls with snakes under the house pretty often. The most I've done under a house is four or five."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wolf noted that he has seen dens the size of the one under the Santa Rosa house in the wild, but never in an urban area.

All the snakes were Northern Pacific rattlesnakes, the only venomous snake found in Northern California. Southern California has another seven species of venomous snakes, Wolf said. The Northern Pacific isn't aggressive unless provoked.

When Wolf first went under the house, he quickly found seven snakes and returned to his car to get special gloves. 

Crawling on his hands and knees and even on his stomach at times, Wolf tipped over rocks and scanned the area for three hours and 40 minutes to retrieve all the snakes. 

"Exciting" is the word Wolf used to describe the situation and the moment when he first realized he was coming upon a big den. 

"You go under the first part of the house and there's storage and then it goes into the area that's tight and you have to crawl into it and you can smell the rattlesnake smell," he said. "It's the smell of their droppings. I got in, and I smelled that and it's like when you smell popcorn and you go 'Oh!' Right away, I knew I might have something special and I was hoping ... and occasionally your hopes come true."

 

Sonoma County Reptile Rescue on Oct. 2 retrieved nearly 100 snakes from a den under a Santa Rosa home.

Al Wolf

Wolf doesn't kill the snakes he retrieves from people's properties, and these were released overnight in areas where there are no people. He said he also often brings the snakes to ranches where the owners request them for pest control.

The situation at the Santa Rosa home was unique as the house was built on top of a rocky area and access from the area under the foundation to the outdoors was left open, creating an environment snakes like. 

"This was obviously their den site," he said. "They had access to travel in and out and get food."

 

Sonoma County Reptile Rescue on Oct. 2 retrieved nearly 100 snakes from a den under a Santa Rosa home.

Al Wolf

Wolf was impressed by the homeowner, who he said was calm about the situation. 

"She told me, 'Now I know why I haven't had any rodents all these years,'" he said.

Wolf plans to return to the house one more time this month and again in the spring.  

"This lady wasn't afraid of them," he said. "She doesn't mind having them there. There were just a couple too many."

[cigcars]

     Brave man 

[zuhaib]

This is the SF Bay Area. The house will sell for 200k over asking, cash buyer. Seriously


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Edicion]

Reminds me of when I was coming back one night to my bungalow in Thailand and spotted a snake going in under the bungalow from the side.

I took a blurry picture with my camera of it and went to ask the resort staff if it was dangerous.

The lady at the reception showed the photo on my camera to another staff. He didn't say much. The lady said the guy might go with me to take a look, it wasn't clear. I waited a few minutes. It didn't seem like a big thing to them.

I was about to leave when heard a lot of commotion and 7-8 guys with machetes in hand and long sticks rushed past me in the direction of my bungalow.

It was all a bit chaotic after that for 10-15 minutes and they were chopping through the vegetation next to the bungalows, and in the end they didn't catch the snake as they had forgotten torches and by the time they had some, the snake was gone.

I asked what it was and one of the guys pointed at another guy's tattoo with a cobra. 

[Ken Gargett]

58 minutes ago, Edicion said:

Reminds me of when I was coming back one night to my bungalow in Thailand and spotted a snake going in under the bungalow from the side.

I took a blurry picture with my camera of it and went to ask the resort staff if it was dangerous.

The lady at the reception showed the photo on my camera to another staff. He didn't say much. The lady said the guy might go with me to take a look, it wasn't clear. I waited a few minutes. It didn't seem like a big thing to them.

I was about to leave when heard a lot of commotion and 7-8 guys with machetes in hand and long sticks rushed past me in the direction of my bungalow.

It was all a bit chaotic after that for 10-15 minutes and they were chopping through the vegetation next to the bungalows, and in the end they didn't catch the snake as they had forgotten torches and by the time they had some, the snake was gone.

I asked what it was and one of the guys pointed at another guy's tattoo with a cobra. 

mate of mine lived in india for a while. one day, his mother came outside to find the younger brother whacking at a cobra with a stick. very lucky kid. 

I remember back when I did that year through Africa/Asia, in Nigeria, in a camping ground of sorts, there was a big wall all along one side. Every five yards or so there’d be a small hole. I asked why. Apparently so the cobras have a way to escape. I did ask why they didn’t block the holes to stop them getting in, in the first place, but they looked at me like I was insane. 

That day, a mate and I had our turn to guard the truck. If you left it unguarded, the locals would strip it in minutes. And there is about 8 feet of cobra going along the wall looking for a hole. Out it went. I had been airing my sleeping bag so was very nervous something might have crawled in. so I have a long stick and I would give the bag a poke – it was lying on the ground – and then dash away. Did it a number of times to make certain. Unbeknownst, one of the locals has crept up behind me, while I am fixated on the bag, and pinched the back of my leg. I swear I threw the stick forty yards high, collapsed on the ground screaming about dying. And the locals laughed harder and longer than anyone I’ve ever seen. 20 minutes later these guys still could not speak for laughing. At least they shared their beers. 

[Ken Gargett]

https://youtu.be/aYkipu0cQRg

[Ford2112]

Some of you live in Australia. You would keep a rattlesnake as a pet compared to all the horrible creatures that can kill you there. I gotta take a hard pass on all of it myself. But when I read that some Taipan Viper can kill 1000 people with one bite or saltwater crocs, and worst of all some of those women in the outback,I'll take my chances with a good ole rattler any day 😄

[BrightonCorgi]

You can never get ride of snakes once they make your home their home.  Ask me how I know... 😩

[stogieluver]

 BURN IT DOWN AND THEN DYNAMITE IT. 

SPRAY THE ENTIRE AREA WITH GASOLINE AND SET THAT ON FIRE. 

THEN, sell it and never go back. 
i hate snakes. All snakes. 

[toto]

On 11/17/2021 at 1:41 PM, BrightonCorgi said:

You can never get ride of snakes once they make your home their home.  Ask me how I know... 😩

There is a story begging to be told...  Do go on.

[Subcomandante]

Oh hell no. 

[BrightonCorgi]

On 11/19/2021 at 8:11 PM, toto said:

There is a story begging to be told...  Do go on.

Had garter snakes that set up under the concrete steps on the side of our old home.  Got the point there were a dozen at time at the first step.  I've seen snakes swallowing a bird in the back yard.  My old corgi was standing on snake and had no idea.  Asked professionals on what we can do and they said basically nothing.  They'll come back once the scent is in their liar.   I cannot stand snakes and thought of them gives me vertigo...  Having to jump past the stairs to avoid them was trying.  No mice or rats at least.

[bpm32]

On 11/19/2021 at 1:45 PM, stogieluver said:

 BURN IT DOWN AND THEN DYNAMITE IT. 

SPRAY THE ENTIRE AREA WITH GASOLINE AND SET THAT ON FIRE. 

THEN, sell it and never go back. 
i hate snakes. All snakes.