Is this baby snake coiled up outside a gopher snake or a rattler?

You're an idiot.

Why?

arning from you more experienced guys

No offense, Danny. The first thing I thought of when you said you were going to turn it loose was your grandchildren - or any other people, dogs, etc., who happen to walk upon that snake or its offspring wherever you drop it off. A neighbor's son got bite by a rattlesnake and nearly died.

I'm the last one to kill anything. I typically grab spiders and toss the outside rather than swat them. Live and let live is good, but this one is not worth the risk.

I find western black widow spiders outside all the time. If you asked me to, I could snap a picture at will, in daylight, of one, as they are *that* numerous out here.

And, their venom is reportedly 15x stronger than a rattlesnakes!

Still ...

If I killed every one I found, I wouldn't, statistically, make a dent in their numbers in my yard alone.

Birds, lizards, other spiders, even wasp predation has a greater impact than anything my puny efforts could accomplish.

So, I don't kill them when I see them. I consider them part of the "family".

But, I do warn the grandkids to stay away from those particular family members. There's always one in every family ...

That's why I was clearing out and chipping the brush within 100 feet of the house. It's all part of the fire safe plan (which you have in your area also).

And, it's why I keep bolt cutters handy (to cut the chains on the fire access roads), and fire extinguishers in handy locations.

And, why we all have wharf hydrants, by code, on our properties, since we're all on well water.

And, why the town drops off those blue reflector things for us to put in the driveway or roadway for the fire department to locate our hydrants.

And, why the kids and grandkids know to assemble at the pool if/when there is a fire.

What else would you suggest?

That wouldn't be a bad idea because we're in the highest fire hazard zone they make.

I did toy with the idea of buying a pump for spraying the house from the pool, but then I realized it would be about a thousand bucks in toto, and would likely not be used because if the fire gets that close, I'm outta' here anyway.

Plus, the fire department is only about 25 miles away, yet they still made us pay that extra fire tax which isn't called a tax. It's called a fee. So that way they could get around the laws that make voting in California on tax raises harder. With a fee, it was easy because they told everyone they wouldn't be paying that "fee" so everyone voted since they want everyone else to pay their fee. I'm still burning up over it.

Good intentions, but kids forget quickly or don't believe they will get bit. People are always stepping on snakes that are hard to see against the leaves, etc. I was walking thru the woods with a friend in front and he stepped right over a copperhead without noticing. He could have just as easily stepped on it and gotten bit.

it is a rattler you can tell by its eyes,tail, and its pattern

its a rattler

You shouldn't hurt a rattlesnake either! They are a protected species

Heh heh ... I recently ran into this baby rattler down in my ravine.

I counted about 7 rattles.

I wonder if it's the same one, perhaps grown up a bit, that I had ungracefully relocated a while back?

The rattler didn't seem perturbed one bit by my presence. Maybe he remembers?

As Oren says, at least in California, where even every tree is a protected species if it's greater than a foot in diameter at chest level, Rattlesnakes aren't protected.

I see a rattler every week or so.