A California woman got an unwelcome surprise when she went to grab what she thought was her dog's toy and instead found herself holding a baby rattlesnake.
Carla and Ariel Rosso had just gotten out of their backyard Jacuzzi when she went to grab what she believed to be her dog Duchess' rope toy, KABC reported.
In home surveillance video posted to YouTube Friday by Ariel Rosso, Carla Rosso can be seen walking toward the snake and calmly picking it up before realizing what's in her hand.
"I grabbed it and as I was going up, I realized it was gushy and it had a feeling to it, like a hot dog sort of," Carla Rosso told KABC. "So I let it go. And for some reason I thought it was still on me.”
The moment it registers that she’s holding a snake, she flings it away and frantically tries to escape the area.
“If you are going to pick (up) your dog’s toy in the dark, make sure it’s not a live rattlesnake!” Ariel Rosso wrote in the video post. “Thankfully, my wife Carla was not but, but she needs to work on running away skills!”
The couple said they were terrified by the accidental encounter – officials say baby rattlesnakes can be particularly dangerous because they can’t control their venom – but told KABC they still couldn’t help laughing once they saw their home surveillance video.
"I was cracking up," Carla Rosso told the news station. "It was hilarious. I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I picked up a snake. Check it off my bucket list of things to do!"
The Los Angeles County Fire Department was called and destroyed the snake, KABC reported.
WPXI contributed to this report.
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