In the desert west...

...we don't deal with hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes or many other natural disasters.  You may, however, take the garbage out one evening and find a visitor right next to your house!

Xander was the first to see it and called us all out. It was kind of eerie to see Sophi's little shovel in the dirt practically next to this 3-foot-long rattler!  Thanks to our jack-of-all-trades neighbor Bob Harris for wrangling this thing for us:)  BTW...in 20+ years of life in Utah, this is the first rattlesnake I've seen in a residential area.

Bob gave the snake to a another family in the neighborhood who had the intestinal fortitude necessary to skin and preserve the snake for posterity.  They brought it over for us to look at.  I can't believe how unafraid Lexi and Sophi were.  Yes, that is Sophi's cute little foot showing me the severed head. Xander was pretty proud that he survived a face to face encounter with the thing while it was still alive!

Fun times!

-Jer