Live Rattle Snake Left In Bucket Outside Hudson Valley Home: NYSDEC

WAWARSING, NY — An illegal and dangerous specimen left in a bucket outside a Hudson Valley home has led to legal troubles for an Ulster County man, according to police.

On July 28, a NYS Environmental Conservation Police Officer responded to a complaint about a timber rattlesnake left inside a bucket outside a home in the Town of Wawarsing.

The officer found that a suspect had removed the snake from another property and brought it back to his apartment inside the bucket, according to NYSDEC. The officer said that the man also had the head of another timber rattlesnake in a freezer inside his apartment.

The Wawarsing man admitted to capturing the live rattlesnake and possessing the snake head in his freezer and voluntarily surrendered both to the officer, according to authorities. He was given tickets for taking and possessing a threatened species in New York State, returnable to the Town of Wawarsing Court.

The live rattlesnake was released back into the wild and the snake head was secured as evidence. according to the DEC.

You can view a video of the rattlesnake's release here.