Man Claims Live Rattlesnake in His Mail Was a Murder Attempt

You can get seemingly anything delivered right to your door these days. Usually receiving a package in the mail is an exciting experience for people, but for one California man, it almost ended his life. 

Elijah Bowles, a 60-year-old truck driver living in the Mojave Desert, recently went to the post office in Twentynine Palms, California to pick up a package but got quite a surprise instead. It turns out a live Western rattlesnake was inside, complete with cotton balls to muffle the sound of the snake's rattle. 

"That’s attempted murder, if you ask me," Bowles said to The Los Angeles Times. Bowles retrieved the parcel on May 16 and asked a friend to open it as they drove away from the post office. "When she opened the box, she threw it at me almost. And she says, 'There’s a snake in there,'" he recalled. 

Bowles quickly jumped into action. He pulled over and used a stick to open the box, then called 911 and animal control. Local law enforcement handed off the investigation to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which is still ongoing. Thus far, authorities have not publicly shared their thoughts on the sender's intentions. 

According to the Times, the package was marked "fragile" in black marker and listed Palm Coast, Florida as the return address, but tracking information revealed that it was mailed May 3 out of Hayward, California. Even more concerning, a few days later, Bowles discovered that a second, nearly identical package was recently delivered to his home in Florida. He told his family not to open it and instead take it to the police.

"I’m trying to figure out, do I have any enemies?" Bowles wondered. "I’m not a gangster. I’m a truck driver."

Believe it or not, it wouldn't be the first assassination attempt by mailed rattlesnake in the region. In 1978, LA trial attorney Paul Morantz almost died after he was bitten by a rattlesnake that someone put in his mailbox. 

If you're in anyone's bad graces, it's probably best to shake your packages and open them slowly just in case.