I was driving my dog back home from the vet and pulled up to my driveway gate. The gate started to open and then jammed shut after about three feet. I jumped out of my truck, but left it running to keep the AC on for my dog. I walked through the side gate to get to the two foot tall gate mechanism cover so I could reset the gate switch. I lifted up the cover and walked backwards but couldn't see the gate mechanism because the cover was still blocking my view. Once I started to set down the cover I was SHOCKED to see the four foot long rattlesnake hissing and striking out. I grabbed my phone out of my back pocket and started videoing it so I could zoom in to see what was going on. That's when I saw that it was indeed a huge rattlesnake and it was injured and stuck in the gate gears! Just as I was trying to figure out how to get it out, a neighbor was driving by so I flagged him down to help. The rattlesnake kept hissing and striking out and even biting it's own tail! I still can't believe I was inches from that rattlesnake while trying to lift that cover up! I don't know how I didn't get bit by it!