Jim Everetts has “hauled ass” in circles to tire out an angry bull and watched a bobcat sit a few feet from his office door. He’s herded cattle off a freeway at night and thrown ammonia bombs into gopher holes.

But there’s something about the past few months that stands out to him more than anything else: He’s finding rattlesnakes, and he’s finding a lot of them.

Tombstone’s 57-year-old animal control officer estimates he’s dealt with about twice as many rattlesnakes since May as he would have in a typical year – he normally would have seen fewer than 10 but has taken care of more than 20 since the weather started heating up in May.

“When they’re that big, they’re usually pretty smart,” said Everetts, who’s known as “Rattler.”

But the snakes themselves aren’t what worry Everetts, even though they’ll start to disappear once the weather cools around mid- to late-November. It’s the kind of damage they could do to Tombstone’s tourism industry.

He said the most at-risk people for getting bit by a snake are the elderly and tourists because they either don’t notice them because they’re distracted or can’t move quickly enough out of striking range once they see one. Elderly people make up a good chunk of the visitors in Tombstone, so it’s easy to see where Everetts’ concern comes from.

He said the Tombstone’s most prominent types are Mojave Rattlesnakes and Western Diamondbacks, and added that “anyone who gets bit by a Mojave, they’re screwed.”

“I just try to keep ‘em away from people and horses,” Everetts said. “I’d hate to see anyone get bit, so I’d rather get them first.”

Everetts has had plenty of close calls himself, saying that his snake-proof boots have “saved me many times.” Still, he’s been bitten a number of times on both arms and said that the feet, ankles and hands are the most common places for snakes to strike.

But despite Everetts’ best efforts, snakes are still finding their way into Tombstone. Carla Molina, an employee in Tombstone’s water department, said she’s encountered many more snakes this year while going around town and getting readings from water meters.

“We found quite a lot when we were reading the water meters last month,” Molina said, adding that she doesn’t know anyone who’s been bitten but she has started bringing a hook with her to wrangle snakes.

Still, even with Everetts on snake watch around town, it’s ultimately up to anyone in Tombstone to make sure they know what’s around them and realize that rattlesnakes can from a distance up to half their length.

But Everetts likes it out here in the West – angry bulls, rattlesnakes and all.

“It’s interesting around here,” said Everetts, in his fifth year in Tombstone after working in Pennsylvania, among other places. “But it’s been a good year … it’s busy. It’s very diverse. You get anything.”