On last week’s “Up Close Show,” Gary Daigneault had a conversation with Danielle Wall, an animal rescuer and reptile relocator who lives and works in the high desert. Wall is known for coming out to properties throughout the Morongo Basin and removing rattlesnakes and desert miscellaneous creatures and relocating these confused creatures to appropriate habitats for the last five years.
When Wall was asked about the Speckled Rattlesnake, which is the most common species here in the high desert, she said:
In my experience, they tend to behave like any other rattlesnake of all sorts of species. In my experience, they have been the lesser of the defensive rattlesnakes. They tend to rattle less, not strike, I don’t want to say docile, but more relaxed, and less fearful than say the Mojave rattlesnake that gets a bad reputation.
When asked about rattlesnake hibernation patterns, Wall said
The correct terminology would be “brumating,” it’s the reptile form of hibernation. It boils down to the temperature, not the time of year. Generally when the temperature doesn’t peak past 65 degrees fahrenheit throughout the whole week, you won’t see them necessarily, but they can still be out. I’ve gotten calls when it’s 43 degrees out, although that’s rare, that is possible.
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