2 Communities Dispute Source of Rattler Invasion

Wealthy homeowners in Hidden Hills use fences and gates to keep unwanted visitors from entering their exclusive enclave.

In a twist, however, residents of a middle-class neighborhood next door are complaining that those barriers are failing to keep unwanted visitors from leaving Hidden Hills.

Rattlesnakes by the dozens are apparently slithering out of open space in Hidden Hills and creeping into backyards and houses in adjoining Woodland Hills.

Hardest hit is Fairhaven Avenue, at the westernmost edge of Woodland Hills. Homeowners along the street say they are being terrorized by rattlers that are being discovered weekly in garages, swimming pools and gardens.

Problem Grows Worse

Residents said the problem is worse this year than in the past, when scattered sightings of rattlers have occurred during dry periods in late August and September.

“I’ve complained to Hidden Hills and their attitude is everyone should maintain their own property,” said Lenore Glaser, who has had five rattlesnakes killed in her yard in recent weeks. On Sunday, her husband killed an 18-incher that had taken up residence on her patio.

“I said fine, I maintain my property but they’re not maintaining theirs. The snakes are obviously coming from there. I think Hidden Hills should put up a better fence.”

Neighbor Todd Sauber, 14, said he watched a three-foot rattler slither across the Hidden Hills city limits and into his backyard last month. Todd said he grabbed the family dog and retreated indoors.

“It was coming right toward us. I didn’t want to get it mad,” he said.

Accusations such as Glaser’s have bridled officials of Hidden Hills, a 1.4-square-mile city of expensive homes that boasts private roads for autos and private trails for horses.

Hidden Hills Challenges Assertion

“What makes them think these are Hidden Hills rattlesnakes? Were they wearing gold chains or something?” asked City Clerk Jane La Croix.

“I spoke to one woman from Woodland Hills who insisted that, quote, ‘Hidden Hills’ snakes are coming into our yards.’ I asked her how she knew they were from Hidden Hills. What were their last names?”

La Croix acknowledged that Hidden Hills has more rattlers than it wants, however. She said rattlesnakes have caused “quite a problem” at the town’s horse ring and that officials have informed residents of the city of 1,860 that it is illegal to shoot snakes on private property.

She speculated that the snakes may be surfacing to look for shade or water because of recent hot weather, or they may have been dislodged by construction.

“We’ve tried to get county animal control and the agriculture department to do something about the snakes. But we haven’t found a solution.”

Fairhaven Avenue residents, meanwhile, said they are looking for their own solutions.

Glaser, who said she has called Los Angeles city firefighters so often to kill snakes that “they know me by my first name,” said she has abandoned her hobby of gardening. She said she now wakes up with rattlesnake nightmares.

Neighbor Barbara Swerling said she encountered a three-footer in her backyard last week as she prepared a backyard barbecue. She said she immediately moved supper indoors and swore off all cookouts for the summer.

“I got my husband and daughter together over the weekend and discussed what to do in case of snakebite and how to put a tourniquet between the bite and the heart,” Swerling said.

John Stepp said he has taken to looking carefully when he steps into his garage. “I found a rattler behind a table when I was cleaning the garage three weeks ago. I killed it by chopping off its head with an ax.”

Woodland Hills Fire Capt. Michael Taylor, whose firefighters killed a rattler last week atop a floating swimming pool cover behind a Fairhaven Avenue home, said homeowners should use caution in killing snakes themselves.

“Snakes can generally only strike one-half of their body length, but their heads can still strike for about an hour after they’re cut off,” he said. “Rattlers’ mouths will keep snapping if you touch their heads even after they’ve been killed.”

Taylor said rattlers’ heads should be carried by shovel and either flushed down the toilet or buried in the ground.

Officials said firefighters from both Los Angeles city and county respond to snake calls and use shovels to kill rattlers.

City Responds ‘Immediately’

Lt. Tom Goffa of the city’s Department of Animal Control in Chatsworth said his officers will also “immediately” respond to rattlesnake calls. They use pistols that fire birdshot to kill the reptiles, he said.

Richard Wightman, supervising agricultural inspector for the county’s Agricultural Commissioner’s office, said that no pesticides or repellents “are legal or effective against rattlesnakes.”

But, he said, homeowners can fence themselves off from rattlers by installing “hardware cloth”--a quarter-inch mesh wire--at the bottom of chain-link or wooden fencing.

The bottom of the mesh should be buried in the ground and the top should extend about three feet above the ground before being bent outward “like an upside-down L,” Wightman said.

“That will certainly keep them out.”