Watch moment feisty snake decides to chomp down on the Arizona woman who grabbed it
A frantic call to remove a rattlesnake from someone’s yard in Arizona ended in bites for the snake catcher, but the reptile was irritable rather than venomous.
It was identified as a coachwhip, a species that can top 8 feet in the state, and video shows it was angry at snake wrangler Marissa Maki of Arizona-based Rattlesnake Solutions.
First, it lunged and bit a nearby plastic bottle, then it lunged at the camera, then it lunged at Maki’s hand.
“He’s biting me. He’s biting me,” Maki is heard saying, as a resident of the property gasps in the background.
It bit her twice, both times in “the exact same spot,” she told McClatchy News.
Rattlesnake Solutions posted video of the incident Sept. 7, and it has since been viewed 4,300 times as of Sept. 24.
“Coachwhips always tend to be a little bitey. If handling one, there is a good chance it will try to bite you,” Maki said in an email.
“It doesn’t hurt. The bigger ones you can feel more. I usually say being bit is like if you hit a cactus. Or if you’re a hiker, like a cholla to the calve. Cholla is a cactus that is a pain because it always ends up on you. It’s a little prick and you will bleed, but it’s not bad.”
She came to the home after a woman reported a rattlesnake was in the backyard, hiding among the trash cans.
Maki instantly recognized it as a non-venomous species, however, and grabbed it with a bare hand.
It was a young one, maybe 18 inches long, she says. However, the snake unsettled the homeowner, who is seen in the video cowering 15 feet away — next to the gate. She wanted it removed from the property, so Maki took it to a nearby desert spot and released it.
Rattlesnake Solutions recommends allowing non-venomous snakes stay put in neighborhoods, particularly coachwhips. They eat venomous rattlesnakes, which are plentiful in Arizona.
“Coachwhips are really fast so if you have one in your yard, it won’t be there for long. If you want to catch it, be ready for a chase,” Maki advised.
Commenters on the brief video have noted Arizona’s coachwhips are notoriously “grumpy.”
“Never not had a coachwhip leave without a taste (of my) fingers!” Kiley Hyatt wrote.
“Coachwhips never go down without a fight or a chase,” Nathan Smith said.
The species ranges across the southwest United States and is often found in deserts and prairies, according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
“A speedy snake, it has been clocked at 3.6 miles per hour,” the museum says. “The coachwhip is a nervous snake and may retreat into rocks or rodent burrows when threatened, but it is just as likely to approach an intruder hissing, striking, and possibly shaking its tail; it will bite if handled.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 9:56 AM with the headline "Watch moment feisty snake decides to chomp down on the Arizona woman who grabbed it."