Although I've found 2 or 3 small snakes in my house in the last few years, none have been rattlers. However, I killed a rattler about 3 feet from my back door a couple of years ago, and hubby killed another in the yard about 10 ft from the door (the cat was watching it from the "safe" side of the gate, and was so focused on the snake that was coiled and rattling, that he went straight up when hubby shot the snake with a .22 loaded with a birdshot shell. The snake was history, except for the memory. I still look in that place for snakes in the summer, and I check around the back door before stepping outside.
