Lessons from rattlesnake class in the American Southwest

It's rattlesnake season in Arizona, where the number of bites has surged. And it turns out most of what you thought you knew about the reptiles isn't true.A Phoenix Herpetological Society rattlesnake class attendee moves to pick up a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake with snake tongs under the supervision of instructor Cale Morris at the Florence Ely Nelson Desert Park in Scottsdale, Arizona.

And no, baby rattlesnakes aren't more dangerous than adults. A baby rattlesnake's venom is just a tiny fraction of that produced by an adult. "I just want you to look at this for what it is. This is not an aggressive animal. I see a shy, scared animal," Morris said as the snake kept watch of him. Kelley Fox is the urban wildlife planner for Arizona's Pinal County, and has been studying reptiles for years. Even she learned new rattlesnake facts in the class. Among them: the idea that rattlesnakes are losing their rattles because of human interaction is a myth.

There are also classes for businesses, like construction operations, that encounter the snakes out in the desert.Rattlesnakes may be timid, but snake bites do happen. And this spring in Arizona, they happened a lot.

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