Watch your \u2018sssstep.<\/p>\n
Hikers hitting the trails in Southern California are being warned about a terryfing increase in rattlesnake sightings.<\/p>\n
Snake handlers have seen a sharp uptick in reports of the venomous reptiles as they emerge from hibernation amid unseasonably warm weather.<\/p>\n
Warmer temperatures means the rattlesnakes are out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had 43 calls in February of this year. Last year, we had about 18,\u201d Bruce Ireland, the founder of reptile relocation group Snake Wranglers, told Fox 5 San Diego<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we have ever had that many calls in February,\u201d he told The California Post.<\/p>\n He pointed to the increased amount of rain and the warmer temperatures as the reason for the rattlers\u2019 early emergence<\/p>\n Avid hiker Zach West told Fox 5 <\/a>he\u2019s been climbing Cowles Mountain for 20 years and had seen \u201cmaybe one\u201d snake over the years.<\/p>\n A snake wrangler said the calls in February were more than double a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw three on Monday,\u201d he said, saying one was so large it stretched over an entire path.<\/p>\n \u201cThey [rattlesnakes] do not look at a calendar. They don\u2019t know months. They don\u2019t know the time of day,\u201d Ireland explained. \u201cThey just know it\u2019s nice out, let\u2019s go out and try to find a meal, a drink of water, or a mate,\u201d Ireland said to FOX 5.<\/p>\n He said reports of rattlesnake activity typically start in April run through fall if it stays warm.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been doing snake relocation for a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cFebruary is usually slow for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Officials say the best plan is to avoid the rattlesnakes if you see them.<\/p>\n