California rattlesnake bites hiker amid 'massive increase' in run-ins

[RandySF]

First responders rushed to a trail in Santa Barbara County on Sunday to assist a hiker who said a rattlesnake bit her ankle. The emergency marked the latest in a series of unfortunate rattlesnake encounters in California this spring.

After firefighters carried her down the trail, the hiker went to a nearby hospital for treatment, Montecito Fire Department spokesperson Christina Atchison told SFGATE. There was no additional information about her condition as of Wednesday.

The bite comes after two recent fatal rattlesnake bites in Southern California in 2026 — which together were highly unusual given that nationwide, only about five people die from snakebites of any kind each year.

“It’s just so terribly tragic that these deaths happened, and it’s something that’s really rare,” Emily Taylor, the director of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Lab, told SFGATE.




https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/rattlesnake-bites-spike-22208190.php

[pfitz59]

1. It's their home

Stay alert and ditch the 'ear buds'.

[Mz Pip]

2. Scary

I’ve lived in CA since 1969. I’ve camped, hiked, backpacked all over and have never seen a rattlesnake. It seems like there have been several reports of bites within the last year.

[hardluck]

3. Found 8 on my property last year.

None so far this year which is weird.