🏜️ The Real Life of a Rattlesnake Rescuer in California – High Desert Dani

Today, I have a very special guest, actually two special guests in the studio. And this episode, you may think, what does this have to do with the trades? But I'll tell you, we did an episode recently on safety and a culture of safety. And we have a real life story of what we're going to be talking about today. This is a fascinating topic, I think. Welcome back to another episode of The Trey Penor Show.

And in studio, we have High Desert Danny. Hello. Welcome. Thank you for having me. And then we also have a rescue, right? A speckled rattlesnake that I caught approximately. 35, 40 minutes ago on my way here. Yeah, how about that? She's on the way to the studio to do the podcast and happens to rescue a rattlesnake and then brings it in. I never thought we would have a rattlesnake inside the General Air Conditioning Plumbing and Electric headquarters, but we do.

Never say never. And, well, yeah, because we also have a rattlesnake wrangler, right? Which is fascinating. Now, let me tell you the story real quick. How I first learned about you was we were doing an install up in... 29 Palms, if you're not familiar with the area, big Marine Corps base up there. And we, the installers were under this manufactured home. And lo and behold, so was a rattlesnake. And so they obviously were not going to continue with the work until the rattlesnake was removed and the homeowner got a hold of you.

Correct. And she was able to, well, wait, you tell the story. You said you. You made two attempts or two trips? Two attempts, yes. I remember because I even took a video of this because people love when I go underneath homes and whatnot. It was a decent -sized crawl space at least, but I did. I looked around. I did a full perimeter check and couldn't find it. So far, I haven't found anything yet, but I'm looking.

These are like my favorite calls, but also my least favorite calls. But I went back later that same day when the temperature was a bit more conducive for actually finding them above the surface when it wasn't so hot. And it was a speckled rattlesnake under that home. And I got them later in the day. Okay. And we were able to finish the install because of your services. I've got some questions. I'm dying to know.

And since I first learned about you, you've got a great social media. So if you want to follow High Desert Danny. You will see snakes being found and rescued and relocated in some places you might not ever imagine you would find a snake. How does one get into this profession? It really was not something I planned and it wasn't. something i ever expected to get this far i was actually a k -12 tutor for the 29 palm school district out there and i was on my way to that job from a different job and i almost ran over a rattlesnake on a road that had no service and i thought what am i gonna do i was just laying there in the middle of the road and i got my little honda civic right in between you know i got a snake between the tires so i got out shaking in my converse and broke off a stick and poked it And said, buddy, you got to get out of here.

You're going to get squished. And he took off, just took off, you know. And I thought, well, I should probably learn about the desert wildlife now that I live here. And found a lot of violence and a lot of misconceptions and misinformation. I kind of just thought, like, how hard can it be? And so when I started reaching out to, like, who does this? And it wasn't exactly an easy path because there really wasn't a path for a 24 -7 donation -based snake wrangler.

So yeah, I just watched a lot of videos, mainly like rattlesnake solutions out of Arizona. I just said, how hard can it be? I'll teach myself. And I did. That is fascinating. That is absolutely fascinating. That first encounter, obviously you were trying to help the snake, so it didn't get killed. You then were like, hey, this is kind of fascinating. And there is misconceptions out there. One of the posts you had, which I really like how you said it.

You were talking about how we are the invasive species, right? Like we are invading their territory. And then we kind of I think people kind of look at it like, hey, they're not supposed to be here. Why do we have all these snakes? But it's like they've been here long before we have. Absolutely. I mean, you can't get more accurate than exactly that. And I'm not saying like the human species is invasive, meaning we're not supposed to be here.

But in our numbers and our range would not be possible without, you know, modern technology and being able to stay cool. And so like. You know, of course, people were coming through this range while rattlesnakes were here. But it was, you know, like they were eaten and hunted, but not in the way that they are just, you know, spewing about saying that, you know, they're dangerous, they're aggressive, all the misconceptions that came about once people really developed into the terrains where rattlesnakes are. And they're U .S. wide.

So this is not just a Southern California desert issue. It is U .S. wide that snakes inhabit. So the rattlesnake. Do you rescue other snakes? I do non -venomous snakes that are inside homes or inside places they shouldn't, but otherwise I stick to rattlesnakes, yeah. All right, so don't get upset with me, but I am like not a snake fan. Oh, that's fine. I mean, I have, I mean. You're normal. Yeah, I mean, when I was younger, my brother had a boa.

Right? And I was not comfortable with that thing. And then one day I was laying on the sofa watching TV and he just laid it on me. And then I got over it. Then I would handle the snake and everything like that. And I think we don't know a lot about them. Right? When one of these guys bites somebody, it's not because they're aggressive. Nope. Never. An aggressive rattlesnake does not exist with the pure definition of what aggression is and the scenario.

You know, it would be the same logic as like us being aggressive to a bear with our fists or a T -Rex. Even if we had a loaded anything or a venomous face, we'd still have to attach ourselves to something massive. And that just isn't the case in, you know, in the survival world. Yeah. The logic isn't there. They're defensive. We've got a bonus episode. Check it out on YouTube. Danny. takes out the snake.

And I got to tell you, I was a little nervous. That snake was very fond of me. You were busy, right? Very. Which is, when you were talking before we got on the show, how busy you've been. And the fact that you literally had a call right before the show, like, I truthfully would not think that there was that much need. I didn't either. I didn't either. I didn't either. Yeah, you and me both. You and me both.

Well, and what you do, it's not like there's a lot of competition in that market. Totally. But also I always say if you're an animal rescue or if you are in wildlife conservation or anything that has to do with that. Competition shouldn't even be in your vocabulary. Because I get it. If you're someone in your profession, of course, it's like price comparison. You know, who can do it better? Who can do it cheaper?

Who can do it? All of it. But with me, I don't charge. And so like competition, like if someone says competition, that's my first red flag. When I say competition, meaning there's not a lot of people doing this, right? No, correct. So when somebody does have a snake or an issue like we did, it's not like you go to the Yellow Pages and you decide who you're going to pick, right? No. And that also has to do with legality and just what California Fish and Wildlife allows in terms of like permitting, business licensing, yada, yada.

Like me being a private citizen that does this on a donation basis is essentially how I can function in California doing wildlife conservation. Got it. Okay. Something I didn't even think about. I wouldn't charge if I wanted to or could. But yeah, you go to other states and absolutely, like there's already that infrastructure that has been established to go into that avenue of snake wrangling. In that case, like California is a little behind of developing that infrastructure to even have those programs or teaching facilities or insurance thing, all of the above.

And so it's been an uphill battle when in a different state, I could have just typed a couple of things, gotten a business license, you know, certification and been on my way. Okay. Interesting. Interesting. So now where do you, where do you release them? It's essentially the closest legal distance I can get my feet on the ground. Okay. Most of the time, that's very simple. You know, you open the maps, you go out a little bit, and you can see the very close, massive, open terrain that that house borders.

Because I'm not really getting that many snakes in the center of town. Unfortunately, you know, things have been moved out. Populations with people get bigger. Yes, this is the closest place of equal terrain. You know, obviously not too far, but not too close. There's a lot of data and studies done by the university. universities of how, when, why, all of the above. So I'm just following the guidelines of relocation protocol that other states do and what's been put out with research studies.

Okay. Very interesting. What is the most unique snake rescue that you did? Most unique? Like the most publicized probably. I have like two where it was rattlesnakes and vehicles. Anything where like it's not just you go and scoop up the snake and plop it in a bin. So like I think the one video that really like exploded my online presence, which is a blessing and a curse, and was when I wrangled a rattlesnake out of the wheel well of a car in Walmart, the parking lot.

Wow. And so I had gone to that home earlier that day. She saw the snake go up into the undercarriage and it was after a mouse, you know. And I said, just don't drive the car. I couldn't get it. And she drove it to Walmart a couple hours later, and it was very hot. And so the snake was overheating, and it just like plopped down. And then it was like, oh, no, the ground's hot, so let's do the next car.

And I happened to be almost passing the Walmart when they called me. So I pulled into the parking lot in like two and a half minutes. really awesome. And it was going up into the wheel well. And I wasn't, you know, experienced with like hook and hand work and at the level I am now. And so I was working with just like a tongue in my hand. And that was a new ballpark for me. But all I saw was like the snake halfway up the tire.

And I know if it goes up, the chance of getting it's practically nothing. So I was just standing there with like half a rattlesnake in my hand and the rest of it in the tire thinking like, what next, Danielle? What next? So it was like, it was very much like you learn on the spot of like what to do and did a little wiggling. Cause you can't like just pull them out. So yeah, I grabbed them, put them in the bin and I look up and I realized I have like 40 people looking at me and filming me.

And I'm just like, Oh no, this is going to go all over the internet. And there goes my, you know, hermit persona that I really quite enjoyed. I know when I was in Florida, I took a hunter safety course and, um, They talked about, obviously, snakes, safety and snakes, but the venom and the doctors that, you know, the hospitals keep the anti -venom and stuff. What do you know about that? Like, they really have to have certain venoms or anti -venoms, right?

Yes. It's, like, regionally specific. So, like, an anti -venom in Florida is not going to work for here. Yeah, okay. But, like, in California, like, you haven't needed to know what kind of rattlesnake bit you for decades because it's regionally inclusive for all the venom toxins in that zone. And so, like, it doesn't matter if you're bitten by a speckled. It's still going to be—there's two mega brands of anti -venom, essentially.

And so it's just regionally specific. So, like, it doesn't matter if it's Mojave speck. It's all the same stuff. It's all in there. Okay, here's my question. Which is pretty nifty, yes. Have you ever been bitten? No, no. Okay. No. My thing is, I'm like, I'm not a drunk man. My odds are on my side. All right, so if somebody is bitten, what do they do? I always say get to the nearest clinical hospital facility that you can.

Don't drive yourself. There have been people, you know, you get bit and you try to drive yourself and you crash or you crash into someone else. But that's really it. You just get to as calmly. I know that's going to be hard to do. You calmly get to the closest medical facility in your area and then they will handle it from there. But, you know, if you don't have an option to get. And your only option is to drive out.

I mean, that is what it is, I suppose, in some of these more very rural areas or people that can't invest in something that has satellite. Well, so don't get a passerby to suck out the venom, right? For the love of everything, no. Do you know how much bacteria is in our mouths? You just put that right in a wound. I was just in May. I went to Winnipeg, Canada. And I went, I found this indigenous tribe, and they allowed me to do a vision quest.

And it was really cool. Four days in the woods, no food, no water. It was an amazing experience. But there were times where I saw a lot of wildlife, right? And it was amazing. But there were things I thought about. Like it was too cold for snakes at that time of year because it was still – it snowed one day. But I also thought like what happens if something happens? Like I can't just jump in a car and go.

I'm out in the woods hours from people. So – and I guess there are – those are the precautions somebody has to think if they're going to put themselves in an environment where they could – run into a snake is, okay, what is my plan? Let's help dispel some of the myths out there. Let's help educate everybody out there. When are they going to be most prevalent? Absolutely. I get this a lot. People are like, when is it time that I can hike safely?

And it's essentially our temperature gradient of comfort is very similar to the rattlesnakes out here. So if you don't want to be in the sun for more than 30, 45 seconds because you've got a sweat mustache happening and you're already like, oh, get me out of here, the snake is not going to be in the sun either. And if you're cold in the shade, but then it feels real nice in the sun and, you know, nice warm 72, 75 on your skin, the snake could be in the sun. And so it's a good way to judge of where you may find a snake based on how do you feel outside. Better in the sun, better in the shade.

And the snake is very similar. But it's different in certain regions that have water, like near the coast. Some of these rules won't apply because in our region, I always tell people the water sources are your prime spots for rattlesnakes because we're dry and desolate. the rules don't always apply everywhere, but for my region, it's like when it's, when you're really comfortable in shorts and a t -shirt outside, so are the snakes. Okay. That's a very easy way to remember that.

I came across one, a rattlesnake on the bump and grind hike. And I was up there and I, there was this family, about four people and they're stopped and they're not moving. And it's a narrow part of the trail. And then they, they were pointing out a snake, a snake. And I looked and you could see it was. It was like part of it was under a rock. Like it was like a tunnel type thing. And so I just kind of went.

I looked from a safe distance. And then I think they were like, okay, now's our time. It was like they almost pushed by me, right? And went behind me, right? I was like, what? What is going on here? But anyways, the snake was cool. It was just doing its thing, right? But, okay, how fast can they strike? And what should someone do if they encounter one like I did? I avoided it. And I didn't get too close to it.

But people, like the snake's not going to see you and then chase you. Right? Does not happen. Okay. So just everybody understand. The snake is not going to chase you down. Doesn't happen. Yeah. Okay. I always tell people, you ran. You weren't chased. Yes. Okay. Yeah. You were scared and you took off. But I'm sorry. There's no such thing as a snake that's going to chase you. And then let alone with the intent to then latch on to you.

It's just – it's fear bias that exaggerates these stories. If this was actually true, we would have documentation of this, and there's a reason we don't because it's just scared people misunderstanding the situation. The movies tend to create a lot of false narratives. Hollywood definitely created some myths, and they're not going to come leaping at you. You would have walked right past that rattlesnake most likely had you not already had someone else show it to you.

And that's what I tell people, you know, the data out of all the universities out here, it's like you have about a 1 % chance really of seeing any individual rattlesnake on any individual day. They're in a rock pile and they're so, so well camouflaged. Our eyes are not meant to even pick up on it as an animal. And so the snakes that we end up seeing are the ones directly in our path, like yours was, or we end up hearing them before we even see them. Because they're a very peaceful animal.

And if they chased us, if even 1 % of rattlesnakes decided to chase us, it would be like zombie land, but with snakes. Yeah, like snakes on a plane. It's just not happening. Well, you know, it's interesting because my brother was a corporate pilot for 20 years. And he ended up in Salt Lake City. And now he is the county's beekeeper for the county. He also has a business. He'll go. remove swarms and things like that.

And so I go up with him and I'm fascinated by it. And there's a lot of misconceptions about bees as well. Oh yeah. Like he, he'll go to swarms. I used to see these swarms and he would, he he'll go up, he just shakes it off a tree in no box. He's like, this is when they're, they're the most vulnerable. Right. And so they're not really a threat right now. And then bees don't do the things that most people, we did, we did an episode, like we filmed some stuff.

And we're sitting up at his place in Salt Lake City out on a patio. And there's bees flying all around us, flying into my head. And there was a time that I'd be petrified. But I got a little educated on it, right? And so – and I think it's the same thing with snakes. It is. Like when you fear something, your brain is going to create a story that is not reality based on – that your nervous system spiked.

And that's why eyewitnesses in certain extreme situations are not reliable because our brain isn't – reliable in that moment of what's reality and what's not based on our understanding of something and like people laugh all the time because I catch snakes in a lot of situations a lot a lot of big animals that are around and one was like near a horse pen in a horse pen a lot of horses and They petrify me. Horses, I turn, I get shaky, I get scared because it's a big animal that I don't fully understand, don't fully know how to read. And so I understand the fear. And I was afraid of these snakes when I first started. And so I understand, you know, having a nervous system reaction to an animal.

But at the same time, I feel like this one's a bit less necessary from the hype. Because in California, you have a higher chance of dying from a lightning strike than dying from a rattlesnake strike. And I will take those odds. I'll take those odds. Because most places in the United States, we can be airlifted. And that is how a lot of people get saved in areas that you can't be driven or yada yada.

It's like the United States, at least we have. Those abilities to get people. And time is tissue. So, of course, the longer you take, the worse it can be. But that's why the United States, like, you have a 99 % survival rate of rattlesnake bites because the medicine is so good and our hospitals are available. I actually have a cousin. He's an adult. Well, their child's an adult. But they live in Arizona.

And when their son was a little boy, he got bit by a rattlesnake. And he was out playing and just encountered one. And I probably stepped on it or something. And he got bit. And they got him to the hospital. And everything was fine. But, I mean, it does happen. Oh, yeah. There are thousands and thousands of bites across the United States every year. And I never try to underplay. what damage can be done by this animal.

But I love talking about statistics and just the probabilities and everything else hurts us more than these animals. So I always say, yes, they're dangerous. Everything's potentially dangerous. But when you look at the sheer numbers, it is not as deadly as people think. And I always feel for the people who do lose pets, family, of course. I'm never trying to downplay that whatsoever. No, but I think you put it into a good perspective, especially doing a comparison to lightning strikes, right?

Because I don't think people, unless there's a lightning storm, people really don't think about that, right? And then people do get struck by lightning. I was just watching a show the other day. I did me too. I watched one. It was like on the ring camera. I'm like, oh, guacamole. Oh, no. And I'm like, I'll relocate. There's one where I'm holding my metal rod. I'm walking through. I'm like, oh, cool lightning.

And then I think about it. I'm like. I put it in the sand and I relocated the snake without my metal rod. Yeah, don't be a lightning rod. And I picked it up and I went back. So what is, tell me, because, I mean, encountering snakes that you're rescuing or relocating, obviously there's a human component to that because somebody's calling you, right? What is the dumbest thing you've ever witnessed somebody do or heard about somebody doing as it relates to?

A snake specifically, a rattlesnake. Dumbest thing. I've never been asked that one. The dumbest thing. I mean, besides like there was one man who he got bit by the head because he chopped off the head and he got bitten by it. And that is kind of a thing where people don't realize even when you do. You know, when someone like that goes and kills it and then they go to pick up the head thinking it'll be a nice trophy later and the nerves can be firing for several hours and he was bitten.

So that's just, that's always like, that's happened. I've heard that once in our area. Okay. But that is something that has happened. And, you know. But most people, it's like the stupid situations are you're getting too close usually and people are trying to kill it. Well, it's like you see those videos on the internet of the people that are trying to do their own alligator stuff. Oh, I just thought of a better one.

I just thought of a better one. This woman. It was a woman, actually. And I get called. It was a little past sunset. And the lady tells me she had tried to shoot the snake several times but kept missing. And I get there, and she shot the side of her car. And she had just recently had a stroke and wasn't even supposed to have a firearm anymore. And so I get there. I'm like, oh, my Lord. This woman's flailing a gun in a neighborhood, essentially.

She shot her own passenger side door, and the snake's just under there. Yeah, I'm like, it's usually the people trying to do something negative or, you know, out of reaction that it ends up being a little silly. Like you said, stay away from it, and they're not going to come after you. Okay, let's talk about. Their diet. They're eating little rodents and stuff essentially, right? Essentially, yeah.

So in many ways they're helpful. They're extremely helpful. They're kind of on in the middle ground of being like an apex, apex predator and being on the low end of the pole. And so I think like a mesopredator is like really what they're classified as. I might have said that wrong or quoted that one wrong. But, you know, because they're being eaten by every bird of prey, coyotes, bobcats. They're big. food source as well for all the other critters but yes they devour rodents and the true numbers of rattlesnakes of course we can't definitively say but there's a lot and but the rodents you know are always going to start to go on this uphill trend because of humans and the trash that we accumulate and the homes we provide for them before the the rodent poison was outlawed in California that continued to kill off everything that ate it.

We saw a big drop off of, of certain birds of prey population. And so the rodents are really, so the, the more snakes we got, you know, it helps to cut down on diseases and all the damage they do. And, oh yeah. Snakes are good. They're good. Snakes are good. And the other thing is like, let's talk about why they're venomous. They're not venomous because they don't like people. Exactly. Right. It's like, It's their protection.

Yes, they didn't develop that just to make us upset. No, like in the wildlife world, like for them, for the big predators, their bite is meant to be more like, you know, a really harsh, painful sting that makes that animal forever remember, don't mess with me. It's not really like a... a lethal intended thing rather than it is for the food that they go after but obviously humans you know we're not adapted to being we need medical intervention to survive these most often but you know if you look at the canine you know genus over time like they have a much higher rate of being able to fight that off because look at coyotes and wolves and etc that deal with that animal constantly and have evolved alongside of that animal being struck, you know, in their life and evolution. So certain animals will do better than others. But it is, it's potent.

It's potent. And we're sitting right next to one. He hasn't even bothered to raise his head. No, he's just kind of very peaceful. He's just chilling back there. Like this is exactly how they spend most of their time sitting there doing nothing, waiting for something to pass their face in. Eat it. They're very simple. That's very, very interesting. So here we are. We're the air conditioned plumbing electrical.

And there's certain calls we get that are routine, right? Maintenance, the preventative stuff. And then the phone starts ringing. The temperature goes up or it goes down and the phone starts ringing. And then we've got what we call our emergency calls. Right. And a lot of times, especially in the summer around here. You get more calls than you have technicians, and you have hours in the day. Yes. So you probably operate very similar, right?

Very. Yeah, but I don't have that many technicians. No, you're— No. Finding help to want to do what I do on a free donation basis, all of that, and at any time of the day, and just finding people you can trust with such a responsibility of handling a venomous animal on private property. Yeah, it's hard. And so I did very much have the mentality of, like, I can just do it myself. And, yeah, there's other people.

And I have a couple helpers. Some I've trained. Some I haven't trained personally. But I am. I do have a little mini fleet now of people that I can send out and help. So if you want to get away. You have somebody that can step in for you. I've been gone maybe like four times in nine years, no joke. And it was like it's funerals or weddings that I have left for. Wow. Yeah. And it's funny because you were saying earlier you kind of came to the desert to get away from people.

I know. I really did. I'm a city transplant. My mom lived in the desert from like 90 to 92 with my dad and said, get me the hell out of here. Moved back up to the Bay Area with the Italian family. After being, you know, you feel like you're in the rat race up there and you can't get. ahead, and I just needed to get away, so I called my grandpa. I said, what's it like living in the desert? He said, cheap.

And I said, I'm on my way. And so, yeah, I moved out here thinking I'm just going to be, go into my entomology world that I love. Like, I was always the weird bug person my entire life, and I just thought I was going to disappear into the desert and essentially never be heard from again unless I was in a lab coat. And, yeah. And then fate put a snake. In your path. Really did. And now you're somewhat of a celebrity.

It's helped me, like, you know, get out there and just be. Be in the human world. Because I was about to go into some severe recluse life. I struggle ragingly with anxiety and just being around people. And I'm great one -on -one like this. No anxiety whatsoever. Love you all. But big crowds or the idea of being on a TV show makes me lose sleep and have pit stains down to my hips. Because I'm just like, no, I can't handle that.

It's been a good thing. Gave me purpose and it also like gave me an avenue to find myself a bit and connect with people again. You know, we stayed at this little cabin and I was out on the porch and here comes a bear. Just comes walking, walking out. I was on the second floor. You know, there's a stairway down. But it's funny because this bear just comes. He was young. He was probably his first summer without. the mama, probably a year, year and a half.

And he comes walking, he looks at the car, he comes over and he comes to the bottom of the stairs and he kind of looks up and sees me and then just kind of turks and walks, walks away. I used to encounter him all the time in Pennsylvania because I lived in the Pocono mountains. Where I'm going with this is I'm around people all the time, right? Running a business, involved in the community, doing a podcast and things like that. But I was telling my wife, I'm like, man, I just want to, I want to get a place.

That's in the middle of nowhere that I can just escape to. And there's nobody around. Oh, yeah. You know, service, no TV. Yeah. Yeah. It's I and I think that in today's world, I think that that is some of the best mental health stuff people can do. We are too connected. Very well. Very, very connected. And I think that's why after. I hit 30 is when I really, really heavily prioritize finding balance of always being on call and always being needed, but then having to decompress and be away from people.

So I have my home base, my little compound where I don't leave unless I really need to, and then I can be out and be on because I have somewhere to go home and just calm down. Not a snake call. We're good. I felt the phone buzzing. Just spam. I'm the only person that gets excited for a spam call. And that's how people get a hold of you. They just call you. Yeah, they just call me. I mean, it's any time, any day.

And I do get, like, words like fireman or the police. Like, I've gotten some fun extreme calls. And I say fun to just add some sarcasm to it. But, yeah, definitely it can be very adrenaline spiking. and very stress -inducing absolutely and there was one call like that just popped in my head where like they had a 15 year old blind and deaf dog and it was in its dog house and right outside the dog house entrance was a rattlesnake that was just laying there and so I had the moment of like if you mess up that dog walks out and steps on that snake and now That's on your conscious. And so I'm like, you know, I got it with no one getting hurt.

But, like, there are certain calls where people or pets are involved. I go home and either just bawl my eyes out or just close the curtains and don't talk to anyone for a few days. It's very much like the trades. You know, you get the calls, you go. And I can tell you from being a technician in the field, you get those adrenaline with certain calls you get, too. And the complex stuff, you get a call, it's hot.

What I used to love is running all day, right? still gonna run into the night because it's so busy and you get to a point i remember getting like the headaches because i haven't eaten yeah you know and i'm in the heat but you just got to keep going and keep going like i am teetering on 110 pounds because i struggle to just like even keep weight on throughout the year because i'm hiking so much and then the stress and and then you just get home i like yeah i'll go eight hours and then realize like Did I eat anything? I've drank my fluids all day, so I don't die. But, yeah, I'll get five or six calls back to back to back, you know, just in a row. And I feel like a chicken with no head. And you make it happen, though, you know.

Yeah, yeah. I get some time off in the winter at least. Yeah, that's nice, I guess, you know. It's kind of like us, you know. We have our season. You know, we're busy. And then it kind of decompresses a little bit. And you get like, oh, I can do that again another year. Yeah, yeah. You know, I always call August is like my mental breakdown month of like, oh, man, I've been going at this hard. And then by the time September comes and it starts to go down, I'm like, oh, right, we're good.

But that's kind of like the peak of, yeah, it gets busy and hot and tiring. And you're like, can I keep doing this? And then you get a little bit of a break and you're like, of course I can. You know, you just keep going. The calls keep coming. I'm going to keep going. What does high desert Danny do when you're not wrangling snakes? I'm like high desert clean freak. Okay. Yeah. I like cleaning. I've been a professional cleaner like on the side for like 12 years.

Really? Yeah, it makes me feel normal for one. I have done hoarder, hazmat in my earlier days, like even before the snake wrangling stuff. And now I just like manage an Airbnb for a friend and I'll take a... weird cleaning job every once in a while. But yeah, like doing a hoarder clean in between seasons where I get to go and just like do a whole other world and I'm not the snake lady that is really rejuvenating for me.

And so, yeah, I like cleaning. And like I said, I was doing forensic entomology in college and wanting to do like maggots on dead people, essentially. Oh, yeah, yeah. I wanted to be Hodgins from Bones. Oh, yeah. But before he was even a character. So the gross stuff doesn't bother me. And I have real estate investments as well. It's very interesting because what people may not know about, me is I'm fascinated with forensic medicine.

And I've worked in hospitals and I used to, I got to know the coroner and I used to go to autopsies and assist. And there was a time that I was really wanting to get into forensic medicine. It's fascinating. And some of the books I've read, I used to, when I worked at the hospital, I would go into the medical library, which ironically was right down the hall from the morgue. And I'd sit there and they had these huge textbooks on forensic medicine.

And I'd just read them when I had downtime. And the whole thing with what they can tell, time of death and things like that, from what you're discussing, it's absolutely fascinating. It was my dream to go to one of those body farms, you know, in my schooling. you know, program of doing that. The book I read was so much like the storyline of Bones that I think that that's where they got the idea because it was this forensic anthropologist and it was fascinating the stuff they covered. And then they did cover that place where you, you know, they put bodies in cars or in shallow graves to see. decomposition.

That's why I want my body going. Everybody's listening to this right now thinking, what did I tune into? What does this have to do with air conditioning? Well, look, I didn't wake up and get into the air conditioning business. You didn't wake up and get into the snake business. And we have lives and interests outside of probably what we're known for. Exactly. And I think that that's very important that people have hobbies and interests.

And sometimes all they see is what they see on social media. Oh, yeah. And then they get this preconceived idea of who you are. And now it is now your responsibility to uphold that perception of what society is now placed on you. And I'm like, oh, no, you can't fit. We can't be in a box. No. So, yeah, I'm like, it's snakes, but it's also cleaning and bugs. Cleaning and bugs. Cleaning and bugs. So snake crosses the road.

You stop to help the snake. And this opportunity is born for you. And you basically, in many, many trades, you learn on the job, right? So you were self -taught and you learned on the job and you filled a need that, well, I'm sure there's other people out there doing this in the area. Obviously, from the number of calls you run, there's probably, there was room for one more. Yeah. To say I'm the primary is probably not too far off.

And there are certain snake wranglers that, you know, have never approached me, talked to me, and they are trying to do it. I'm like, meh. Like, we're all, most of us, like, we all are happy to work together because we're all in it for the snakes. Like, there's a woman that we, her and I can't stand each other. But we both love that animal, and so we will always work together. And I forgot where I was going with this now.

Well, the need and the other. Oh, the need. Yes. Like there are people, but I definitely, definitely like no, no one that I know is doing the calls I do personally, let alone for free. You know, and you mentioned something I just want to be like, I always say you can you can have competitors and be friendly. So like us in the trades, we have there's times we've had people, other companies that know that we have a certain piece of equipment. that we inventory and they needed it and we would give it to them and then they would order one and replace it.

And, and you can help each other out. Yes. Because at the end of the day, even though you guys are a business and competing and all of that, it's like, you're still, the whole point is who are you helping in that moment? And everything else needs to just be flushed down the toilet. I always say ego has no room in animal rescue. And, you know, I'm like, I have never wanted to be the spotlight, but I'm definitely going to use what I have and who I am to. to take advantage of it for these animals.

Well, and that leads me to you. You have really created a presence on social media. Shockingly. And I mean, did you set out to do that or did it just. Cause like I was telling you guys, like I'm not a technology person. I'm not a computer person. If you asked me to like. take a three minute video and take sections of it and piece it together in 30 seconds, I would have a nervous breakdown and run away because I don't know how to do that.

So I feel like I'm a terrible influencer. All the things you see are just my phone's on a rock or it's in my hand or someone's filming me. But I definitely have. thought about that throughout this whole time of like not being someone who wants to have millions and millions of followers or like whenever I'd have a big publication I'd actually shut my Instagram down for the day because then when people would look up look me up I wasn't getting a hundred thousand new followers like there were a couple things that boosted me out randomly and it was so much anxiety and pressure I just I turned off my phone and said, I can't even look at this. When you get thousands and thousands and thousands of comments, both good, bad, and ugly, you have to learn to distance yourself from that and slow the progression because the overnight success stuff, it's not. I got offered a TV show in my third year, and I'm like that.

I'm not the best wrangler I can be yet. It's not the time, and it's not about the attention. So I wanted to be better first. I like that. I like that. Well, and I will tell you on the social presence stuff, I know some people that they have a big following, right? Both females. And they have shared with me, like, man, some of the comments that people can say. And I'm just kind of like, why be mean?

Yeah. The ones against me don't bother me. It's the violence against the animals. It's like that mentality. I'm like, go ahead. Attack the meat suit. I don't care. That does not bother me. It has never bothered me. I'm like, but when you have to read about someone wanting to burn or hack or whatever the animal you're saving, that's what starts to mentally break me down a little. And I will tell you, I'm a hunter.

But I believe there's ethical ways. Oh, absolutely. I tell people, if you shoot, if you kill and eat that rattlesnake, you will not hear a peep out of me. And it is funny when people are like, yeah, I cooked this one up yesterday. I'm like, more power to you, dude. If the United States had a hunt to eat meat, most of us would be vegans. You know? Like, more power to you on that. I'm glad you say that because now I can tell this story.

When I was in Jacksonville, Florida, I ran an unloading service. We unloaded. freight for the public distribution center. And one day, one of the guys, he lived out on a farm in the country and he was late to work. And he showed up and he's like, boss, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He was working the dairy, so it was an afternoon shift. He says, but man, there's this rattlesnake across the road. And I stopped and another guy stopped.

And we were debating, we were negotiating who gets the rattler and who gets the meat, right? And I'm like, huh? You're what? That was the delay. She would have just said accident. Yeah, I know. I'm like, okay. So I said, okay, now I got to know. What did you get? He said, man, I got the meat. I said, what are you going to do with it? I'm going to cook it. I was like, okay, interesting. We are in the country.

I get a lot of smack for this because I'm in animal rescue and conservation that I won't go after the vegan world. I'm like, well, A, we can only fight so many battles, so I'm picking mine, but also I'm like sustainable hunting, and when you go back to the roots of being Native American here and living off the land rather than... completely demolishing the land. And there's a big difference, you know, I'm against mass production of farming and all of that, that world, because that's harming animals and whatnot, but like sustainable hunting, if that was still the universal thing, you know, that to me is like, we are part of the human nature of this cycle of being in nature. But also if we had to do it with all our bare hands or no, you know, machines or something. Well, that's – A lot less people would.

That's why I will tell you I – well, I pheasant hunt. I always use a shotgun. But for deer – I come from a big hunting family. I'm a bow guy. That's quite even. It's the play field. Yes. I would say we are not the top of the food chain depending on what situation and what do we have on us at that time. Correct. Correct. That was kind of like when I was on this vision quest because I'm out there and I'm like, you're going to see animals.

They said the Great Spirit will bring the animals to you that you need to see. And it's amazing the animals I saw. But I was like. I'm hoping the bears are still hibernating. I'm hoping that, you know, and I'm going to become part of the chain. Yeah. Yeah. And so it was quite an experience, but it is like nature and the world around us. And I just I love like I love that you're doing this because it's it's obviously it's good and it's dispelling some of the myths and the fears people have around snakes.

And the whole team here when I said, yeah, you're coming in and you're bringing a snake. What? Huh? Huh? But it's because people don't know. And maybe it's probably good that there's a bit of a fear from them because some people stay away. I say healthy respect. Yes, yes, healthy respect. That's much better than fear. Because fear has its place. And fear and, you know, knowing limits and whatnot has been why I have not been bitten.

But at the same time, I freehandled them for years. I did, like, stunt work, so to speak, where I'm holding them with no safety net whatsoever. And I got a lot of, you know, a lot of... good and bad in that world. And I'm not advocating for people to hold rattlesnakes for funsies, but it really, that was like a big pivot for a lot of people that they said, watching you do that did not make me want to do it, but it showed me that they're not this vicious killing creature that we've all, that we all see, or we see the extremes. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, and I think most negative encounters with nature where someone's injured or killed, it's very rarely an intentional aggressive. And it's usually a lack of preparedness on our part. Yeah. Well, and it's like with the bears. Like, if you don't know, you do not get between a mama bear and a cub. And you do get between. I mean, that's just stupid, right? You just stay away. Yeah, and unfortunately, like, you'll be placed in situations where you never thought, I should learn what to do here.

Yeah. And that was my rattlesnake encounter on the road. No one told me to be prepared for that. And, you know, you just got to live and you learn. And sometimes you don't live. I am most fascinated with that because. You know, I thought for sure you were going to tell me, well, you know, I grew up and my dad did this or this and that. And your story is just – I love that. I love that. One of the reasons I really wanted to have you on is, one, because I'm in the trades.

I think what you do is a trade. A lot of the trade guys call me for help. I was going to say we called you for help or I should say the homeowner did. But we were at a standstill on this job until you were able to get out there and get the snake and relocate it for us. And, you know – I just think that you're doing a great service. I think that probably the biggest thing is really helping educate people on what's real and what's not.

And I hope that this show does that to some extent today. If you were tuning in thinking we were going to talk about how to present options or something like that, that's on another episode. Today we talked about having you on and sharing what you do, how you got into it, because there's a lot of people. I always ask people when they apply. Why did you choose the trades? What got you into it? And it's fascinating to hear the stories because some people wanted to do it.

Other people, they just kind of like they're like, I didn't really have any options and I needed something. So I thought this would make sense. Other people, you know, got into it because they said, hey, I think there's an opportunity there. Me, I got into it late. I got into it. I had been doing other things. I never thought I'd be in the trades. And I got. Kind of like you, I had a dry cleaning business.

Not that you had a dry cleaning business, but in the sense that I had to learn how to fix my own equipment. Yeah. And I learned that I really enjoyed doing that. Yeah, and so it kind of got me into that. Anything you want to say to the listeners that they should know about you? How about supporting you? You take donations, right? I do. I take donations. If anyone wants to be my truck sponsor, hit me up.

All right. So she's looking for a truck sponsor. Truck sponsor. But really, it's just that rattlesnakes are not out to get you. The babies are not more deadly than the adults, and they do control their venom to a certain extent, just like the adults. Interesting. It's the number one snake myth. Okay. That babies are more deadly because they can't control the venom. Yeah. And it's just wrong. It's all wrong.

I will tell you, we had, let's say before we wrap up, one day our installers came back, and he had a baby rattlesnake. And I'm like, what do you have a baby rattlesnake for? He says, I found it under the condenser. I said, well, what are you going to do with it? He said, I'm going to release it. So he was relocating it. Condensers, yeah, I get a lot. We sometimes find rodents, snakes that get into the system and get electrocuted.

You don't see it a lot, but it does happen. We'll get rodents to get into the heat exchanger in a furnace. Yeah. And then they fire up the furnace and they wonder why it's not working. Oh, man. I know. I know. Yeah. Oh, we got we got tons of stories. Anyways, I just want to thank you for making the time. I know you're very busy. I hope everybody enjoyed this episode of the show. We're going to put in the show notes how you can how you can support.

What High Desert Danny does. Oh, right. I forgot to mention that. I have all donations. I have like everything's High Desert Danny, like high H -I -G -H underscore desert underscore Danny for my Venmo and everything like that. You can find me with that, my tag name. Perfect. So help her out. Help her keep doing what she's doing because she's not just helping the animals. Can you call it an animal? Reptile?

She's also helping. The people in the community that need assistance with this stuff. And she's doing it in a humane way. So it's a win -win. So check her out. Follow her online. Don't say bad things about the snakes. Say loving things. And as always, win the day and be great. And be kind. And be kind. Love it. The Tradepreneur Show is brought to you by Patrick Somers. Executive production by David Field Producer.

Producing and editing by David Field and Kristen George. Original theme song, Blue Collar Working Man, written by Patrick Somers, created using Suno AI. To be a guest on The Tradepreneur Show or for sponsorship and partnership opportunities, contact Patrick Somers. Patrick at thetradepreneurshow .com.