THE OREGONIAN (Portland, Oregon) 16 September 03 Third snake found near high school (Rick Bella)
Lake Oswego: A rare and potentially deadly boarder is going to spend a couple of nights at the police station -- in a bucket.
A rattlesnake is coiled in the bucket with the lid securely duct-taped to keep the reptile from escaping. The rattler was captured alive Sunday about a quarter-mile from the Lakeridge High School fields where two rattlers were killed Aug. 25 by a construction worker.
The latest celebrity serpent was trapped without incident Sunday in the 2000 block of Ridge Pointe Drive. Police are waiting for a Corvallis-area reptile expert to pick it up this week.
"I thought the first two rattlers might have been a fluke, but now I don't know if they've colonized that area or what," said Lt. Terry Timeus, Lake Oswego police spokesman. "Maybe there's a nest somewhere nearby."
Meanwhile, city and school district officials urged caution if anyone encounters a rattlesnake. City officials posted tips for dealing with venomous snakes on Lake Oswego's Web site.
School officials said they would send a warning to Lakeridge High families that subscribe to an e-mail newsletter.
"At least they were able to capture this one alive," said Nancy Duin, Lake Oswego School District spokeswoman.
A woman who lives on Ridge Pointe Drive spotted the rattlesnake in her garden shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday. The woman, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said she didn't see the snake until she had nearly stepped on it.
"It was only about a foot from my ankle," the woman said. "And I was wearing shorts."
The woman dropped her gardening bucket over the snake, put a rock on top of the bucket and called police.
Timeus said officers tipped over the bucket. When the snake crawled back into it, they placed the top on and then taped it down.
Timeus said the snake was more than 2 feet long, similar in size to the two rattlers killed on a hillside adjacent to Lakeridge's junior varsity baseball field. He said the third snake appeared a little chunkier.
"Maybe he just ate something," Timeus said. "Who knows?"
Herpetologist Brad Tylman, who operates Brad's World Reptiles north of Corvallis, said he planned to pick up the snake as soon as possible for study. He said the Western rattlesnake isn't common west of the Cascades.
"They're generally absent from the northern Willamette Valley," said Tylman, who has worked for 20 years with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. "It's too cold and wet, and the right food isn't available. They're pretty habitat-specific."
The city's Web site urges those who encounter a rattlesnake to avoid harming or provoking them, to mark the area and to notify police at 503-635-0238 or the city's natural resource coordinator, Lisa Hamerlynck, at 503-697-6575. Rick Bella: 503-294-5114; rickbella@news.oregonian.com
Third snake found near high school