Hi,
I just received a call from my daughter. She thinks there is a rattle snake in her basement. She had the basement door open while she was outside, (ground level), and her dog began barking and growling. She went into the basement to investigate. She said she heard a rattle like a rain stick and thinks it is a snake. I heading over to see and help if possible. We are in north eastern Pa. She lives in a neighborhood with lots of houses. I’ve personally seen several rattle snakes over the years while on the bike path in Jim Thorpe. Usually they are sunning themselves on the bike path. I just reverse direction and go away. I would not purposely bother a snake if I could, but I can not have a dangerous snake around my grand daughter.
Thoughts?
Someone has to check it out. If you can’t do it call animal control or the police. Get a good flashlight and a long stick. Don’t reach or step anywhere you can’t clearly see that there can’t be a rattlesnake nearby. It’s probably not a rattlesnake, not because it’s impossible but because there are a lot of things that can make sounds in a basement. If it’s freaking you out get some help so you don’t do something stupid. Better to look stupid by calling the police who find a noisy exhaust fan or a possum under a bag instead of you looking stupid by breaking a water pipe in a panic. It’s pretty simple, either you can safely figure this out or find someone who can.
I’ll second calling the police or animal control and getting an expert involved. I realize you don’t know for sure what is going on yet, but don’t put yourself in danger trying to find the snake.
Keep us posted.
I’m tired of these M— snakes in this M— drain!
The scary part of this story is that if the OP or anyone else doesn’t find anything, the daughter and the OP are still going to worry that the rattler may still be in the house somewhere…
Exactly! They are going to spend the night at my house.
Please, please don’t kill it if you find a rattler (or any other snake). It may be an Eastern Timber Rattler and they are teetering on the verge of population collapse. I just finished a book on Timbers that follows scientists from den to den in the Northeast; according to the book, there are rattlers in Pennsylvania (in fact, some of the largest extant dens are in Eastern and Central PA).
I vote that you call in animal control or a critter wrangler. In my area the cops are sometimes willing to help out as well. Please make sure that the agency/wrangler won’t kill the snake. Ideally, Mr. (or Ms.) snakey should be taken back to the home den where the snakes have their ancestral home – an expert may know where the den is. (Interesting side note: in the book the author won’t cite the exact locations of dens to prevent snake harvesters from raiding snakes to sell or kill; if responders don’t know where the home den is you might have the snake boxed up (Tupperware is good) and call the herper at your local university. They’ll know where to find the den).
Also: I strongly suggest not trying to do this yourself; these critters are lightning fast – take it from someone who has been bitten by a rattler (moi).
Please keep us updated!
Have you considered calling the fire department? All of the departments in my area, Tucson, AZ, will roll out for emergency snake calls. And yours sounds like an emergency. If they find a snake, they will either call in a professional, or remove it themselves if so trained. In either case, there is no cost to the caller.
I certainly hope the OP wouldn’t try to kill it. If it turns out to be a rattlesnake in a house the authorities have to be called and hopefully they have access to a snake expert who can catch it. Unless the local authorities are idiots I’m sure they can find a wildlife expert in NE PA who will do the proper thing.
While I second having a professional take care of it, I’m going to guess it’s a black rat snake. They’ll mimic the sound of a rattlesnake (vibrating tail in dry leaves, for example, or some trash blown into a corner), but are non-venomous. They actually eat copperheads.
Be safe. Good luck. Give whatever kind of snake it is a wide berth.
May not be their practice in the OP’s part of the country, but I’m sure they’d know who to call if they don’t take care of snake calls themselves.
There’s nothing left to do. Nuke the house from orbit.
Very few things bother me. All snakes are things that do.
Right. It may be different in Pennsylvania than in Arizona. But here, the fire district will pay for a snake removal expert if they are called in first, and the homeowner will not have to bear the expense.
Dump a crate of mongooses into the cellar. Problem solved.
What’s the real estate market like in PA? Take the first cash offer you get.
Then you’ll have to call the mongoose exterminator.
Then just dump a bunch of cats in the basement. Problem solved.
You do realize they’re going to end up at elephants before they’re through, right? 
The Chinese needle snakes will take care of that.
…and problem solved!