Buckeye Fire Department warns residents that snakes may be in their pool noodles
BUCKEYE, Ariz. - Some snakes here in the valley were discovered inside a pool noodle. Now, the Buckeye Fire Department is warning residents in the area to shake it off first.
And while you don't hear about it too often, it's not too shocking for residents in the west valley community of Verrado.
"We live here next to the park. We have javelinas in the evenings and mornings and coyote. And Verrado family deer like to come around a couple times a year," said Buckeye resident Jeremy Godinez.
The houses are nestled against the mountains, washes and barren desert, where snakes and scorpions still live. Although he's never found one in his backyard, his neighbors have.
"They had a little small baby rattlesnake they found. Took my daughter to go see it, so she can identify it and learn the dangers of it," Godinez said.
"Here in Buckeye, we run an average of 3 to 5 calls a day for snake removals," said Buckeye Fire Captain Tommy Taylor. "But inside a pool noodle, that's crazy. That's different."
That's what happened recently to someone that a Buckeye firefighter knows.
"A friend of his dad picked up a pool noodle that had been stored next to a black wall next to a pool and there happened to be a couple of rattlesnakes in it," Taylor said.
It's definitely real, but a rare danger, that could be lurking in your backyard.
"If you're going to be in the pool, and you have stuff that's stored outside overnight, might be a good idea to shake it. Might be a snake or scorpion in it," Taylor said.
They say that one of their citizens stored two pool noodles against the wall outside of their pool. The next time they went to use the noodles, out popped a rattlesnake. The snake did not attack, but was concerned about the pool noodles because there were a couple of young rattlesnakes inside the pool noodle.
The department goes on to say that there have been reports of snakes actually laying their eggs inside the pool noodle itself or around pool noodles that have been left outdoors near bushes or block fences.
See the City of Buckeye Fire Department's full post below.