Lethbridge’s first snakes of the season spotted; caution advised

Lethbridge’s rattlesnake wrangler spotted his first rattlesnakes and bull snakes of the season earlier this week on the west side.

The warm weather has rattlesnakes starting to emerge from their dens.

This is the normal time for snakes to come out of hibernation.

They’ll stay close to their dens for the next few weeks, basking in the sunshine before venturing further out.

Anyone walking in the coulees should be on the lookout for snakes—listen for their rattles and stay on the paths.

“I get about 150 calls—there’s some years that I get 170 to 180 and there’s some years I get 120, but on average about 150—and that hasn’t changed in about a decade,” said Ryan First Diver, rattlesnake wrangler.

“We have a good, healthy population of snakes here, but the landscape can only host so many, so when they get overpopulated, nature takes care of itself.”

When he removes a snake from a populated area, most times he’ll release it a short distance away , keeping the snake close to its habitat.