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Marines bound for Iraq meet a rattler

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The Marines at the desert base at Twentynine Palms are being trained to be ready for the dangers of Iraq: suicide bombers, snipers and roadside bombs.

Sometimes the native wildlife provide a different kind of training on how to stay alert -- such as the 3-foot-long rattlesnake found in the motor pool area snuggling up to an A1M1 Abrams tank. A mechanic was about two feet from the snake when he made the discovery.

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Marines are not allowed to harass or kill the snakes that make their home at the sprawling base.

So a biology technician in the base’s environmental office was summoned with his snake-removing hook to corral the rattler, which was relocated to an area behind the Combat Center Hazardous Munitions and Recycling plant.

The snake thus redeployed to a safe -- and remote -- area, training for Iraq-bound troops could resume.

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-- Tony Perry, in San Diego

Marine Corps photo: Speckled rattlesnake at Twentynine Palms.

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