San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Summer is here. So are rattlesnakes.
To many of us, rattlesnakes carry a reputation as evil assailants lying in wait for their target, fangs at the ready. But in reality, snakebites occur most frequently when people (and dogs) surprise rattlers while hiking, running or scrambling over rock scree.
Rattlesnakes range across the Sacramento Valley and Sierra foothills but are also present in Bay Area outdoor destinations and parks. They are commonly found at Mount Diablo as well as Claremont Canyon in Oakland and elsewhere in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. In June, East Bay Regional Park District posted a rattlesnake advisory for its 73 parks and 1,250 miles of trails.
The best advice when tooling around Northern California this summer is the simplest: Be aware while on the trail or in the backcountry, and watch where you step. Rattlesnakes are part of nature. When you spot one, keep your distance. Don’t approach it. Don’t provoke it. Divert around it. A rattlesnake will not chase you.
Encounters in Northern California often peak in late May, according to the EBRPD. But this year’s cold, wet spring could push that peak period later into summer.
Those spring rains can lead to more rattlesnake activity this time of year. High soil moisture can help reproductive success for rodents, including mice, gophers and ground squirrels — rattlesnakes’ main food sources. In turn, rattlers’ reproduction also peaks in spring, when a female rattlesnake can produce about 10 infants.
Here’s what you need to know going into summer to prepare for, and hopefully avoid, a rattlesnake encounter.
WHEN AND WHERE RATTLESNAKES ARE ACTIVE:
As coldblooded reptiles, rattlesnakes often emerge after cool nights to the warming service roads and trails at parks to soak in the heat. Timing is key. Rattlesnakes are most active when temperatures are between 75 and 85 degrees, and during dusk and dawn, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Rattlesnakes often stay within a onemile radius of their birthplaces for their entire lives, which can span 15 to 20 years, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife. That means parks or trails where rattlesnakes have been sighted at any time provide likely habitat in the future.
In 2018, rattlesnake bites were reported at Lime Ridge Open Space near Walnut Creek, on a trail on Mount Tamalpais in Marin and at the College of Marin Indian Valley campus in Novato, among other Bay Area outdoor areas. (There is no central repository of snakebite statistics, so keeping track of total rattlesnake bites statewide is difficult.)
In recent years, field scouts have reported rattlesnakes throughout the region: Barbara Gately reported that a friend’s dog was bitten (and recovered) on the Yolanda Trail near Phoenix Lake in Marin; Michael Rudy saw three rattlers on four hikes at Mount Diablo; Mike Rudy encountered two rattlesnakes, each with nine rattles, in 90 minutes at Diablo Foothills; Wild Horse Valley in Foothills Park in Palo Alto has been the site of encounters for years; in the Marin Headlands, Tera Killip sighted a rattler on the paved path between the fork with Wolf Ridge and the entrance to Hill 88 above Bolinas Lagoon.
One of the wildest stories came from Chronicle photographer Paul Chinn and field scout Bart Selby at Edgewood County Park on the Peninsula. Chinn said they almost stepped on two mating rattlesnakes that were intertwined like a bramble on a rose stem.
Though snakes are rare in snow country, one of the most prolific rattlesnake areas in California is the lower reaches of Rattlesnake Creek, a tributary canyon to the Kern River in Sequoia National Park (Tulare County). The canyon feeds down from the Great Western Divide to the Kern and provides a near 100% chance to see a rattlesnake along the trail, as we always have.
HOW TO AVOID GETTING BITTEN:
Avoid wearing sandals or flipflops in brushy, wild areas. Don’t step or put your hands anywhere that you can’t see. Step on logs and rocks, not over them.
Be especially careful gathering firewood or sitting on a stump or log. Be wary of grabbing “sticks” or “branches” while swimming in lakes and rivers — rattlesnakes can swim too.
Lastly, don’t hike alone if you can avoid it.
IF YOU GET BITTEN BY A RATTLESNAKE:
From the East Bay Regional Park District: If a rattlesnake bites you, stay calm and call 911 immediately. Lie down with the affected limb lower than your heart. Do not waste time on tourniquets, sucking or applying a snakebite kit. Don’t pack the area in ice or cut the wound with a knife or razor.
If you are by yourself, walk calmly to the nearest source of help to dial 911. Running or moving quickly will increase your heart rate, which will allow the neurotoxin in the venom to travel through your system faster.
Medical attention means receiving an injection of antivenom serum. Medical insurance typically covers the cost.
Rattlesnake bites can be fatal if you are bitten near a vital organ and are not treated, and for small children.
Outdoors writers John Higley and Phil Ford have both sufstained rattlesnake bites. They described initial shock, then burning pain and instant swelling. They say to expect extensive skin discoloration around the bite. Both men received serum and medical care and recovered fully with no lingering effects.
IF YOU ARE BITTEN BY ANOTHER KIND OF SNAKE:
If you sustain a bite from a snake you are sure is not a rattlesnake, wash the wound with soap and water or an antiseptic and seek medical attention.
If you suffer a snakebite and aren’t sure what kind of snake bit you, check the bite for two puncture marks (in rare cases one puncture mark) associated with intense, burning pain. This is typical of a rattlesnake bite. Other snakebites may leave multiple tooth marks without associated burning pain.
IF A DOG GETS BITTEN:
If you hike on a summer morning after a cool night, the chance of an encounter increases as the day warms through late morning. If you have a curious dog allowed off leash that doesn’t respond instantly to voice commands, the odds go way up.
Rattlesnake bites can be devastating for pets, at high risk because of their curiosity, domesticated DNA and relatively small bodies. It’s possible to have a vet vaccinate a dog against rattlesnake bites. Vets say the vaccination builds up antibodies against the venom. That reduces the reaction to the bite and gives you more time to get your dog to the doctor. A booster shot is needed four weeks after the first. Even with the vaccination, a dog still needs the antivenom shot after a rattlesnake bite.