ORO VALLEY, Ariz. — The rattlesnake birthing season appears to be underway after a family of snakes were recently relocated off of an Arizona property.
The Golder Ranch Fire District in Pima County reported getting a call recently for a bundle of snakes found in a bricked area next to an Oro Valley home. A total of nine baby rattlesnakes, one adult rattlesnake, and one large bull snake was removed from the area.
The call is a good reminder to Arizona residents that August is considered the birthing season for rattlesnakes. The monsoon moisture in the air will signal to mother rattlesnakes that now is a suitable time to find a safe place to give birth.
It is considered quite rare for snakes to give birth near a residence but one Scottsdale homeowner encountered their own family of baby snakes last August.
Baby rattlesnakes will often stay around their mother for a couple of weeks before venturing out on their own to find food.
Tips on what to do if you encounter a little rattler out in the wild can be found here.
*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast.*
UP TO SPEED
What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?:
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.