We moved to Mesa when I was a wee child. My dad had acquired a temporary job out at the GM Desert Proving Grounds back in 1957. We lived in a rented house on the edge of town. The address was 201 South Mesa Drive. Yes, the house is still there. Anyway, my dad has just recently finished writing a book about his 30 years at the GMDPG. The temp job turned into a permanent one and he retired from GM about 17 yrs. ago. All this talk about snakes brought to mind a section in his book he wrote. Here is what he had to say about snakes back then when he was working night shift as a test driver.

"Nights in the desert in late spring bring out all kinds of nocturnal creatures, including Rattlesnakes - hundreds of Rattlesnakes. They slithered across the track in great numbers, illuminated in our headlights. We started carrying one inch dowels about three feet long for protection when we stepped from the car to relieve ourselves, To relieve boredom, we began opening the car door during the stops, which were frequent, leaned out and speared them with the dowel. Our record for one night was twenty-three."