I had my Nikon D850 out to take photos of some flowers, so I was walking around the house looking for photo opportunities. When I walked around back, I noticed a black racer that ducked into some plants alongside the enclosed back porch. So I walked over to the crepe myrtle in back of the house to take some photos of the lower hanging flower bunches. When I was done, I walked back to those plants the black racer had dived into and while looking for the racer, almost didn't see this guy sitting there.
Since he was so close to the house and both Connie and I have been out working on clearing the underbrush around the house lately, I figured we needed to relocate him so we wouldn't accidentally step on him. So while I kept an eye on him, Connie went and got a five gallon bucket and my old trusty Furmont snake hook. It took a little bit to pick him up, as he just did not want to stay on that hook, and I had to chase him around a bit, but eventually did get him into the bucket. I'm guessing he was around 2.5 ft. in length, give or take. Never even buzzed once or in any way acted irate at me being there. Never coiled up, just wanted to boogie on away from the crazy guy with that metal hook thingie. So we took him for a ride and let him go out in the boonies away from people.
Been a long time since we've seen any rattlesnakes around here, but I guess they have always been somewhere nearby. We don't mind them around here, but sure wouldn't want to get an accidental bite from one being too close to the house. This one was real close to the pool pump, and Connie goes back there often to turn the pump and cleaner on and off.