Just weeks into spring, the hiking trails are busy. Snake rescuers want to send a reminder that if we think the weather is beautiful to be out in — then snakes do too.
Earlier this year, two adults, one in Orange County and the other in Ventura County, died from rattlesnake bites.
Kids don’t seem to mind snakes as much as the adults NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes spoke with at a San Diego County park.
“Even if it’s not a rattlesnake, I’m scared,” said occasional hiker, Christina Soltero. “It doesn’t matter, they’re just creepy.”
That classic rattle sends a lot of them running in the other direction, even to their phones to call “Trapper Pat.”
“They can call me anytime of any day, I’m usually about 15 minutes away,” said snake rescuer, Pat Brady. “That’s my little jingle … I’ve taken 978 rattlesnakes, I think in the last five-and-a-half, six years.”
Pets are taking strikes too. Doctor of veterinary medicine, Rob Brooks, is a surgeon at Stitch Veterinary Urgent Care and Surgery in Miramar Ranch North. He said he’s seen an uptick in rattlesnake bites over the last few weeks.
“Whether the dog stuck its head into a hole and got bitten, or managed to find the snake and pick it up, it very certainly can be fatal if a bite doesn’t get treated,” he said.
Avoiding them is a good start for pets and people, but if the bite has already happened, antivenom is the next best thing.
“My first move would be to find a pen or a sharpie and circle the bite and write the time on it because that’s the first thing they’re going to want to know,” Brady said.
Brady also said the time to stay diligent is April through at least October.
There have been about 80 rattlesnake bites reported across California so far this year.
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