Fangs for the warning-leaving the city, there's real venom out there

It's rattlesnake season in the American south-west, which, if average June temperatures of 40C (104F) don't deter you, might give you pause before planning a trip.

- Emma Brockes

Monday

This week, in Scottsdale, Arizona, the state's annual venomous snake training courses got under way, an events series that takes place every spring as the weather warms up and the snakes start to stir from their slumber.

Three broad groups of people attend this course: park and wildlife rangers; Arizona residents with experience of finding snakes in their homes; and reporters from New York on the regional-Americans-are-ahoot circuit.

In that last category, picture a northern type who might, for example, have been known to scream loudly when something rustles in the bushes during a hike, and who, alongside fellow classmates, is invited to trap and release a non-venomous gopher snake as a test run.

This is followed by the provision of a tub with the words "danger: venomous reptiles" on the side, out of which, according to the intrepid National Public Radio reporter, a rattlesnake emerges, and which those present - all of whom have paid $120 to do this - are taught "how to safely grab with tongs". (For a further $120 you can keep the tongs.)

There are many skills I wish I had, but I can say with some confidence that grabbing a dangerous snake with a pair of tongs isn't among them. The instructor, meanwhile, seeks to educate the class on common snake misconceptions. Rattlesnakes are not aggressive, apparently. You can step on one and most of the time it won't even bite you. Still, this month alone in Arizona there have been 13 bites and the state's spectacular national parks all feature large signs carrying snake warnings a handy reminder, in my view, of the greatness of Tenby as a holiday destination, or Ventnor, or Southwold, or Rhyl.

Tuesday