SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A man caught a rattlesnake with his bare hands after it nearly struck his dog — then kept it contained before contacting ABC 10News the next day.
Albert Mond, 29, who is homeless, was walking with his 1-year-old pit bull early Tuesday evening near Meade and Fairmount Avenues, close to a YMCA, when his dog nearly had a deadly encounter.
"My dog jumped about 3 to 4 feet in the air, and the snake went right under his chest, and coiled back up and there was a loud rattling noise," Mond said.
Mond grabbed a branch and used it to pin the snake before taking hold of it with his bare hand.
"Went with the stick around its neck, and I grabbed it with my left hand. Don’t know, just wasn't afraid," Mond said.
Holding the snake by the neck, Mond walked to a nearby CVS to find a container.
"Employees were like 'WHAT?' I said, ‘I need a crate for this,’” Mond said.
CVS workers provided a crate. Mond placed the snake inside, taped it shut and called 911. He said he was told that since nobody was hurt, emergency responders could not help him.
Mond sat with the crate all night before calling me early Wednesday morning. I had interviewed him for a story several years ago.
Mond said his motivation was the safety of the people in the area.
"A lot of kids, the YMCA and a school zone. I felt obligated to do this," Mond said.
After I arrived, I contacted The Snake Wranglers, who dispatched wrangler Jared Roussel to the scene.
Roussel carefully opened the crate and removed the snake — an older, 3.5-foot-long rattlesnake.
"Real skinny, dehydrated," Roussel said.
Roussel believes the snake may have come from a nearby canyon in search of water or food. He said he planned to hydrate the snake before relocating it.
Roussel cautioned that others should not follow Mond's example if they encounter a rattlesnake.
"Keep your distance. Try to keep an eye on it as much as you possibly can, and call a snake wrangler," Roussel said.
Mond said he is just relieved the snake is out of his neighborhood.
"Children safer, community safer. I was just trying to help the community," Mond said.
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