Rattlesnakes found at scene of vehicle crash

By: 
Patti Carpenter

Several members of Lovell’s volunteer fire crew were greeted by a trio of rattlesnakes at the scene of a vehicle rollover crash on Highway 32 about a mile east of Road 5. 

The incident took place at 5:20 a.m. on Saturday, May 11.

Assistant Fire Chief Bob Mangus said he and other firefighters responded after a passing motorist reported a pickup truck rolled over on the side of the highway.

“We scoured the scene to make sure someone wasn’t lying injured in the sagebrush,” said Mangus. “As we were checking the vehicle itself to be sure no one was trapped inside, one of the firefighters alerted that there was a rattler coiled up near the back tire of the vehicle. A few minutes later another rattler appeared near the vehicle. I heard later there was a third one.”

At least two of the rattlesnakes were euthanized at the scene so first responders could approach the vehicle to continue their search for possible victims of the crash. They didn’t find anyone at the scene.

“We thought it was odd to see rattlesnakes out so early in the morning, because that time of the morning is cool and they shouldn’t have been out,” Mangus said. “Then we found a wooden box all busted up in the borrow pit with a snake handling hook nearby.”

Mangus said one of the snakes was quite large and big around. He said it didn’t have a rattle, which made it even more dangerous than a snake able to emit a warning.

Mangus said the Wyoming Highway Patrol was also at the scene. The driver of the 2004 Chevy pickup truck was nowhere to be found.

“All we know is that the truck had Park County plates. We don’t know who it belonged to or why they had these snakes with them,” said Mangus. “The highway patrol is looking into that, I’m sure.”

Mangus said he assumes the accident happened at least a few hours prior to the firefighters’ arrival, since the engine was no longer hot to the touch.

“It looked like it rolled at least a couple of times,” he said.

The Chronicle reached out to the Wyoming Highway Patrol for more information but did not hear back from authorities in time for publication.

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