Community Corner

Rattlesnake Wrangler Very Busy This Season

CBS reporter Art Barron spends an evening with local snake wrangler Bo Slyapich.

With the increase in , one snake wrangler is keeping very busy in areas like Agoura Hills, Calabasas and Malibu, according to CBSLA.

CBS reporter Art Barron spent some time Saturday night with , an in-demand rattlesnake wrangler.

According to the report, the snakes are usually found in hiking trails, said the TV news site. But lately they’re on sidewalks, they’re entering garages, homes, they’re everywhere, said the report

Find out what's happening in Calabasaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Slyapich told Baron that he’s gettng three times his normal call volume, and it's turning out to be a record year. “I got people calling me, ‘Bo, I just went out to get the mail and I got a baby rattlesnake on my front porch,’” Slyapich said.

Because the hot dry weather is forcing the snakes out of the wild, they’re looking for water, according to the report. “And we’re getting the big ones now,” Slyapich told Barron, “the 4 and 5-footers. But these babies are biting our dogs, our kids.”

Find out what's happening in Calabasaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

And though people are taking precautions, like snake fencing, it’s not 100 percent effective.

Barron reports you can protect yourself from attack with the following recommendations:

• Keep all doors closed; front doors, garages, back doors

• Cut back growth, this way rattlers can be easily seen.


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