![\"Video](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/california_post_772\/8b86ba5acb5813730f66e0f7e74a5b61.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nA California man got quite the surprise during his morning commute when he stumbled on a pair of massive rattlesnakes battling it out in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n
Anthony Damore was leaving for work around 10 a.m. Monday when he spotted the venomous reptiles entwined on the asphalt near a storm drain in Thousand Oaks, rearing up and twisting around each other in an eerie display of strength.<\/p>\n
Video of the bizarre showdown shows the snakes towering over one another as they grappled on the side of the road.<\/p>\n
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Video shows two large snakes entwined on asphalt near a storm drain on July 28, 2026. Storyful<\/p>\n
“It was two large rattlesnakes in some kind of show of power,” Damore said, adding that others told him the behavior was likely a combat dance between two rival males.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never seen a rattlesnake do this, or pair of them doing this,” Damore said.<\/p>\n
The unsettling encounter comes as California is seeing a surge in rattlesnake activity this year.<\/p>\n
Just this week, Santa Clarita Valley resident Linda Martin was bitten on the foot while tending to her rose bushes barefoot after unknowingly disturbing a rattlesnake hidden<\/a> beneath the plants.<\/p>\n A coiled rattlesnake on sandy ground, with its distinctive diamond pattern visible, looking to the right. Luis \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Two large snakes entwined on asphalt near a storm drain. Storyful<\/p>\n Stevenson Ranch woman bitten by rattlesnake while tending to her garden. Courtesy of Linda Martin<\/p>\n “I went and lifted the bush, and that’s when I saw the rattler,” Martin told CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n Within moments, she said the venom was already taking effect.<\/p>\n “Within 30 to 45 seconds, I started feeling tingling in my fingertips,” Martin said. “It moved into my jaw, my cheeks, my tongue.”<\/p>\n Linda Martin, a woman bitten by a rattlesnake, sitting on a couch in her living room. CBS<\/p>\n Martin’s repeated 911 calls failed to connect, forcing her husband to rush her to the hospital, where she received lifesaving antivenom after a 10-minute drive.<\/p>\n “Dialed a second time, it didn’t even connect,” she said. “Dialed a third time, and my husband just said, ‘Get in the car.'”<\/p>\n “Had my husband not been home, and I was here alone, I don’t know what would have happened,” Martin added.<\/p>\n Officials say California is on pace for roughly 20% more rattlesnake bites this year after an unusually warm spring brought the reptiles out of hibernation earlier than normal.<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters<\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/california_post_772\/27d69d9cffc99fb699bac2c059c83e7c.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/california_post_772\/0bcb1b45835e09b46a7b9846ad20c3a0.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Stevenson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/california_post_772\/b670f173164acdbd320b33ea56260185.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/california_post_772\/5b352529eaa98828e29fc59cb32ed4f8.jpeg\"\/)
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