Novato, California – A stranger came to the Marin Humane animal shelter in California and left a red bucket in front of the building. Two staff members who noticed the situation eventually approached the bucket that had been strangely placed by the glass door of the reception area. Unfortunately, they had the completely wrong idea about its contents.

Kylie Bradley and Michelle Teruel assumed the stranger had left a food donation in the bucket. Their first glance inside didn’t make them any wiser.

Leaves, twigs, and a cloth seemed to be inside. Thinking the coast was clear, Bradley finally stuck her hand in – and pulled it right out in horror moments later. The bucket didn’t contain a food donation at all, but a dangerous creature.

Stunned, the shelter staff realized a rattlesnake was hiding among the twigs!

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"It wasn’t until I saw something flicker that I realized that there was something else in there," Teruel told The Dodo.

Fortunately, her colleague wasn’t bitten. The animal was just as scared as the two women.

The scorching heat in California that day didn’t help the situation at all.

"I did a visual exam and was glad to see that the snake looked to be healthy," Teruel told the publication.

She also cautioned: "I realized that while not a baby, it was young enough that its rattle did not make any noise. So had I not spotted the snake buried in the bucket, it would have been very easy for someone to have gotten bitten without ever realizing that there was a snake in the bucket."

An examination later showed that, given the circumstances, the reptile was doing well. However, there was nothing more that could be done for the rattlesnake at the shelter.

Therefore, the shelter staff had no choice but to call an animal welfare officer so the reptile could be safely released back into the wild.