ARIZONA, USA — An Arizona woman recently discovered a diamondback rattlesnake living under a shed on her property for over two years.
In August 2020, the woman first noticed the rattlesnake was making its way into her shed. Shortly after, a fencing company boarded up the bottom of the shed to keep out rats that the snakes feed on.
But last week, the woman saw what she believed to be a dead snake that had snuck through a hole. Turns out, the rattlesnake from two years ago had been trapped under there, still alive, without food or water.
She called Bryan Hughes, the owner of Rattlesnake Solutions which specializes in rattlesnake removal and prevention.
"It was in poor condition but not in an irrecoverable state," he said. "Sometimes rattlesnakes they do starve to where even eating could kill them. Even the digestion process can kill it."
Hughes says the scales on the snake's nose had been almost completely gone from trying to push against the grates to escape.
"The snake was not so far where it was in danger of dying, it just needed to eat," Hughes added.
After two years, the snake was released into a rat pack to get a good meal.
Experts are also looking into record books to see if the rattlesnake may be one of the longest to ever survive without food.
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