Randy Pierce (right) describes his latest snake encounter. (June 24, 2009)
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LONE TREE, Colo. -
Whether it's the season or the recent wet weather, snakes are slithering into the yards of several residents who live in the Heritage Hills subdivision.
It's no surprise, given that the community is surrounded by open space that's home to various snakes and other animals -- but it's scary all the same, especially when residents aren't sure whether or not the snakes are dangerous.
"It'll usually be one of the housewives that'll call and say 'I need help immediately because there's a snake in my backyard'" said Randy Pierce, who lives in Heritage Hills and has become the neighborhood's unofficial snake charmer.
"That's when you go into action, get some gloves and a hockey stick and maybe try to get it into a bag, try not to harm the animal, move it further into open space."
That happened Tuesday, the second time Pierce has been asked to remove a snake from a neighbor's yard.
"The snake was probably about two feet long -- I believe it was a bull snake," Pierce said. "It's more or less harmless. It's bark looks a lot worse than its bite. It'll hiss. It'll coil. In this particular instance, it didn't look like it was getting ready to strike."
Using a hockey stick, Pierce prodded the snake into a plastic bag and then drove it back to the open space, emptied the snake out of the bag and watched it slither away.
"The girls (whose yard the snake was in) made me promise I wouldn't hurt it," Pierce said. "They were scared of it, but they still had some compassion." Not all the residents are calling Pierce about their snakes. Lone Tree Police have gotten several reports of snakes in the area, which is no surprise as the weather heats up and the snake population has grown following the breeding season in the spring.
While most of the snake species found in Colorado are not venomous, one is -- the western rattlesnake, which is common across the western two-thirds of the state.
"We see rattlesnake warnings posted in the park a lot during the summer," Pierce said. "I think I'd leave it to someone else to get rid of one of those. But, you can usually tell if it's a rattlesnake.
"My recommendation would be, if the snake is of some size, and it does have a rattle, I would definitely call the local law enforcement. But, in the case we had, the bull snake was small enough. It did not have a rattle and was only hissing, not striking, so I felt pretty confident that it was not going to be a venomous snake."
It's no surprise, given that the community is surrounded by open space that's home to various snakes and other animals -- but it's scary all the same, especially when residents aren't sure whether or not the snakes are dangerous.
"It'll usually be one of the housewives that'll call and say 'I need help immediately because there's a snake in my backyard'" said Randy Pierce, who lives in Heritage Hills and has become the neighborhood's unofficial snake charmer.
"That's when you go into action, get some gloves and a hockey stick and maybe try to get it into a bag, try not to harm the animal, move it further into open space."
That happened Tuesday, the second time Pierce has been asked to remove a snake from a neighbor's yard.
"The snake was probably about two feet long -- I believe it was a bull snake," Pierce said. "It's more or less harmless. It's bark looks a lot worse than its bite. It'll hiss. It'll coil. In this particular instance, it didn't look like it was getting ready to strike."
Using a hockey stick, Pierce prodded the snake into a plastic bag and then drove it back to the open space, emptied the snake out of the bag and watched it slither away.
"The girls (whose yard the snake was in) made me promise I wouldn't hurt it," Pierce said. "They were scared of it, but they still had some compassion." Not all the residents are calling Pierce about their snakes. Lone Tree Police have gotten several reports of snakes in the area, which is no surprise as the weather heats up and the snake population has grown following the breeding season in the spring.
While most of the snake species found in Colorado are not venomous, one is -- the western rattlesnake, which is common across the western two-thirds of the state.
"We see rattlesnake warnings posted in the park a lot during the summer," Pierce said. "I think I'd leave it to someone else to get rid of one of those. But, you can usually tell if it's a rattlesnake.
"My recommendation would be, if the snake is of some size, and it does have a rattle, I would definitely call the local law enforcement. But, in the case we had, the bull snake was small enough. It did not have a rattle and was only hissing, not striking, so I felt pretty confident that it was not going to be a venomous snake."
