I know this is going to sound like a dumb idea, but after a number of years 
of rescuing lizards, frogs, toads, rattlesnakes, and jackrabbits out of deep 
test pits, I learned to take a board or sheet of plywood and nail scrap carpet 
to one side and lay the piece at an angle down the pit. Most of the higher 
intelligence animals will climb out of the pit when the sun comes up. It sure 
beats hurting one of them when stepping into the pit. I actually never had to deal 
with a rattlesnake, but know friends who have dispatched them after deciding 
not to jump in to help them out.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.