Trick-or-treat: Keeping your kids safe from snakes on Halloween

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - The temperatures are coming down just in time for Halloween, but it's still warm enough for these guys to enjoy it all, too.

In fact, the Herpetological Society says there were seven rattlesnake bites last week and time like trick-or-treat can make for an easy way to get one, too.

"They know that they have to do a lot of hunting right now," Daniel Marchand said. "The season's coming to an end and they need to get that last meal in them, so they're really hunting a lot."

Marchand is a curator at the Herpetological Society in north Scottsdale and he deals with snakes like this every single day.

He says now is the time when he is at his busiest, relocating ones that get too close for comfort.

"Right now, being 80, 90 degrees, we're unseasonably warm this time of year," he said. "They're really active."

Tomorrow night, he recommends you stay on paved areas, avoid running through your neighbor's lawn, especially if there's a lot of brush or a desert landscape, and for people with decorations, maybe get rid of some of the slithery-looking ones.

"We've had snakes coiled up around the decorations and kids just thought it was fake," he said. "They didn't even think about it. They thought it wasn't real and next thing you know, we're pulling a snake out of someone's... right by their front door. So, you have to be careful."

Careful as we always are here in Arizona, but especially on a night where we're all sharing outdoor space with snakes.