Ive lieved around rattlesnakes most of my (allegedly) adult life, and had a number of, "interesting" encounters with them, including having one in my cabin. Mostly I end up killing them, particularly anywhere close to home or places I frequent with the dog(s), Im happy, the dog is happy, everybody is happy except the snake, but Im OK with that. Having had one dog bit in the face in the yard was enough. Ive been very close to them on many occasions and so far havent been bit. I may have been lucky too. The 9mm and 38 spl and larger birdshot loads for pistols work very well at ranges of up to about 10 feet (5 feet being WAY better), then the pattern spreads too much to give good densities needed to kill snakes. the 22 birdshot loads have been unreliable in general, sometimes they work OK, sometimes they dont. I decided to just use the ones that work, the 38 and up sizes.
Theres one thing I plan to do different in the future, and thank you for reminding me, I will get rock lights and set them up as approach lights, they can be activated with the door remote as in this vid. The issue is Ive had several rattlesnakes come out from underneath my vehicle, day and night, night being much more difficult to see them of course. Seeing them is the main thing to avoiding them.
Many people live and recreate in snake country, its not a huge deal, but paying attention to stuff around you can make a big difference in not having problems.
Some spiders are just creepy, like tarantulas, some can be unhealthy and dangerous, like black widows. Look inside stuff that may have them hanging out or hiding, kill them when you find them, or not, but if they are dead its hard for them to bite you. Ive found many dozens of them living in the northern rockies. I think the last one I saw was walking across my pillow on my bed as I was taking a nap. It was about 4 inches in front of my face. I flicked it off on the floor and squished it and went back to napping. No desert, just home sweet home. Just go enjoy the desert, its not so bad, maybe safer than my house.
Scorpions arent generally very dangerous unless you are allergic to them, like being allergic to bee stings, and you are probably more likely to be stung by a bee than a scorpion. I know people that have been stung by scorpions, they say its either little to no pain and swelling, to something like a bee sting that swells up some for a day or two then goes down. put some baking soda on the wet folded up paper towel on a sting and it reduces it quite a lot. No idea how it works, maybe its magic, but it works. Scorpions are creepy looking but not really all that dangerous. They are sort of fun to go look for now and then, and show people that havent seen them before. Look under rocks, dried cow poop, large pieces of wood or junk, they eat ants mostly I believe. They also fluoresce under ultravioet light.
