LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS (New Mexico) 21 June 04 Snake rescuers stay busy in the summer (T.S. Hopkins)
Interaction with rattlesnakes is part of living in the desert Southwest. New home construction in both the city and the county has rattlers territorially confused in urban areas.
“Our people (animal control agents) will not go into a confined space or under trailers or crawl-spaces to retrieve a rattlesnake,” said Jess Williams, Doña Ana County public information officer. “We suggest if people have problems with snakes they call Reptile Rescue.”
Many people have called for the help of Reptile Rescue, according to Roy Thibodeau, who operates the service.
“We stay pretty busy this time of the year,” he said. “We get referrals from the city and the county as well as (New Mexico) Game and Fish and the public.”
Thibodeau, 46, has long had an interest in snakes.
“I grew up in Connecticut and got started with reptiles when I was about 8 years old,” Thibodeau said. “It’s become a lifelong vocation, this is all I do.”
There are few elementary and middle schools in Doña Ana County that haven’t had Thibodeau visit with his reptile friends.
“If you introduce kids to reptiles before eighth grade they don’t have the mind set to be afraid of the reptiles,” Thibodeau said. “My wife teaches school and takes reptiles to school for the kids to study.”
Thibodeau, his wife, Terri, and their children Kayla, 15, and Micah, 16, make up the staff of Reptile Rescue but count on the help of volunteers.
“In the four years we’ve been in operation we’ve had 40 to 50 volunteers,” Thibodeau said. “Right now we have two very talented volunteers.”
One of those volunteers is 17-year-old Kyle Sanders, who just graduated from Las Cruces High School.
“I didn’t know much when I started,” Sanders said. “I had a little experience when I was younger living in Gallup.”
Still not legally allowed to handle venomous snakes until he is 18, Sanders said he will take the Game and Fish Department test to become certified while he attends New Mexico State University this fall.
“The University of Florida is one of the very few schools in the country that has a degree program in herpetology,” Sanders said. “I want to graduate from there and come back to Las Cruces and open my own veterinarian shop.”
Sanders’ plan is to not treat dogs and cats, but exotic pets, like hedgehogs, ferrets and, of course, snakes.
“There are already a bunch of vets here working with cats and dogs,” he said. “I want my place to be sort of an exotic shop and zoo.”
Thibodeau runs Reptile Rescue out of his home on the East Mesa. It is a nonprofit 501c3 corporation that relies on donations to keep it in operation. They will pick up snakes, take them back to Thibodeau’s home and observe them to be sure they are healthy and well fed before taking them deep into the desert for release.
“These are dangerous animals,” Thibodeau said. “They can strike from a distance of two-thirds of their body length at 120 mph.”
Snake rescuers stay busy in the summer

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