Jean-Noel Vallejo Jr., of Captain Critter Wildlife Control, got the call late on the afternoon of April 24.
The caller said a rattlesnake was slithering around too close for human comfort near the Countryside Apartments in Daytona Beach.
“I said ‘Are you sure?’” Vallejo recalled in a phone interview. “‘Cause every time I get a rattlesnake call, it’s usually like a black racer that’s just wiggling the tail. It’s never usually a rattlesnake.”
Vallejo, who lives in Daytona Beach, made the short drive over by Countryside Apartments at 1200 Beville Road.
It turned out it was definitely a rattlesnake. And an unusual one at that for this area: a timber rattlesnake, also known as a canebrake rattlesnake.
“He was kinda slithering off the road, a giant 4- or 5-foot rattlesnake,” Vallejo said.
Timber rattlesnakes not as common in Florida as other venomous snakes
Timber rattlesnakes are more common around here on flags than on your lawn. The timber rattlesnake is the serpent shown on the Gadsden “Don’t tread on me” flag.
While the snakes range includes Volusia County, they are more of a northern reptile.
“They are not ever spotted around here, ever,” Vallejo said. “It’s very, very rare.”
Volusia County is one of a dozen counties in Florida where timber rattlesnakes have been found, according to Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville. All the counties where the timber rattlesnakes have been found are in the northern part of the state and include Duval and Alachua.
The timber rattlesnake’s range may extend to other counties in the state, but no confirmed records exist, the website states. They have not been found in Flagler or St. Johns counties.
Other venomous snakes in Florida are the diamondback rattlesnake, the pygmy rattlesnake, cottonmouth or water moccasin, the coral snake and the copperhead. The copperhead also appears in some counties in the panhandle. The other venomous snakes are found in every county, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Vallejo grew up catching snakes in Daytona Beach
Vallejo grew up in Daytona Beach and started catching snakes when he was a kid, removing small, non-venomous snakes for neighbors. His father, Jean-Noel Vallejo Sr., owns Louie’s Pizza on Beville Road.
This is the first timber rattlesnake Vallejo has encountered in the decade he has been removing snakes. The only other one he dealt with was during venomous snake training in Jacksonville.
Vallejo owns Captain Critter Wildlife Control, which also removes other animals, like raccoons and armadillos.
But venomous snakes are more unusual, he said. That’s because most people would rather kill a snake than pay to have it removed, Vallejo said.
Vallejo said the timber rattlesnake’s location near Beville Road was also unusual. He said he would not have been as surprised had he encountered it while hiking through Tiger Bay State Forest.
He said someone may have been keeping the snake and just decided to get rid of it.
Vallejo said he took the snake to the Reptile Discovery Center near DeLand.
It’s a good place for venomous snakes, he said.
“They will never have to worry about predators, vehicles, people chopping their heads off,” he said.
He said once a month the snake’s valuable venom, which can be used for anti-venom and medical research, will be extracted.
Vallejo added: “It’s a win win.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach wildlife wrangler takes rare rattlesnake to new home
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
