BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. — A very close call for a Bartow County family: Their young daughter was out in the driveway and nearly stepped on a rattlesnake.
Father Byron Manley moved his family along Lake Allatoona to be close to nature, but this was too close.
"We have a rule that if you see something, come find Dad. Come find Mom. Let us figure it out,” Manley said.
Last Thursday night, the kids came for help. Manley knew the snake they crossed paths with was no ordinary garden variety.
"Entirely too fat and too long, and it had that typical rattlesnake 'banding' on the side. I knew what it was,” Manley said.
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Manley has seen his share of copperheads in this neck of the wood, but never a rattler. It looked like a timber rattlesnake, which can be found in every corner of the state.
Manley said it was a good 5 or 6 feet long. Experts said a bite from one can be dangerous.
While some homeowners would have taken a shovel to it -- it is legal to kill a venomous snake in Georgia -- Manley decided against it.
"No. He's got a place here. My preference of course, is he not do it on my property or around my kids,” Manley said.
Instead, Manley used a snake hook to put the rattler in a container. He then drove it to the other side of the lake in a wildlife management area and let it loose.
Cox Media Group
