If your open house isn’t going so well, you may want to check outside for any pes-ssssss-ky critters that may be keeping buyers away.
Last Saturday a Phoenix-area real estate agent, who only refers to himself as J.R., decided to close his open house early since the foot traffic was unusually light. When he opened the door, a 30-inch diamondback rattlesnake was slithering around on the welcome mat.
“… as I was leaving my open house, I open the front door to take something to my Jeep and this rattlesnake greets me!” reads the intro of a YouTube video posted Tuesday describing the encounter. “I ran back in to grab my phone and this is where the video starts.”
At first, J.R., who is a self-professed adventure and nature junkie, seemed fascinated by the snake, which started rattling and writhing on the mat.
But his excitement quickly turned to concern as he began telling the snake to go away, wondering how fast a Diamondback can move — just in case he had to make a quick escape.
The agent decided to take his chances and make a move, but the Diamondback began rattling even louder and looked like it may have been ready to strike.
“Maybe that’s why I didn’t have any traffic today,” said J.R. as he backtracked toward the door.
From there, he tried throwing a rug at the snake and prodding it away with a broomstick to no avail. Finally, he called animal control to remove the surprise guest.
Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center Director Keith Boesen provided some tips on how to deal with snakebite season, which usually runs through October.
According to Boesen’s article, the agent in the video didn’t handle the situation correctly. Instead of trying to shoo the rattlesnake away with a broom or other object, he should have called animal control immediately.
“Snakes don’t have any interest in attacking us,” Boesen said in the article. “They’re primarily defending themselves. As long as they don’t feel threatened, they typically won’t strike.”
If someone gets bit, Boesen said heading to the hospital to receive professional medical attention is of the essence since there’s no telling how someone will react to the bite. Also, he suggests avoiding any advice you may have seen on television.
“Anything you have seen in a movie or read in a book — such as sucking the venom from the wound or tying a tourniquet above the bite mark — is completely useless,” he said.
