OGDEN — It was just another morning run with his dog when Craig Nichols found a rattlesnake crime scene in the gutter on an Ogden east bench street.

Nichols said he found the Great Basin rattlesnake mutilated and surrounded by sticks and stones suggesting it had been impaled. It’s rattle was cut off and left near its body.

While officials say it’s hard to determine whether the snake killing was criminal and to locate the suspect or suspects, they also say it’s hard to imagine any snake-killing scenario that isn’t illegal.

“We always encourage people to not kill a snake,” said Lt. David Beveridge of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. “They’re not going to hurt you if you don’t hurt them.”

UDWR Rule 657-53-28.6 establishes a class C misdemeanor for anyone who kills a Great Basin rattlesnake without a certificate of registration through the division. One exception exists — a snake can be killed “only for reasons of human safety.”

Beveridge admits that wording allows a fairly liberal interpretation, making it nearly impossible to disprove someone’s hypothetical assertion that the snake was an unavoidable danger. That’s not to say Beveridge would take their word for it.

“Compared to other rattlesnakes, they are more timid. They won’t bite unless they feel the need to protect themselves,” Beveridge said. “If you see one, you can easily just walk around it. The only thing to be careful with is pets — they do like to pursue dogs.”

Great Basin rattlesnakes are the most common type of rattlesnake in northern Utah and exist mostly in wildlife, but are also known to come down to Ogden as far as Harrison Boulevard.

“They are common to this area, so it’s not a surprise to find or see one,” Beveridge said.

UDWR has the following tips for residents who encounter rattlesnakes:

• Stay at least five feet away
• Warn others, especially children, where the snake is and to stay away from it. Keep your pets from going near it.
• Don’t kill it — not only is it illegal, it increases the chance of the snake biting you.
• Reduce areas in your yard that provide shelter, such as brush, rock and junk piles.
• Keep rodents — a snake’s favorite meal — out of the yard. Bird feeders and water attract rodents.
• Don’t scare away harmless snakes such as gopher snakes — they may actually deter rattlesnakes from wandering through your yard.

Follow Taylor Hintz on Twitter @TaylorHintz. Contact at 801-625-4231 or thintz@standard.net.