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FILE: A captured rattlesnake squirms in snake tongs on\u00a0March 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
MediaNews Group\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
First responders rushed to a trail in Santa Barbara County on Sunday to assist a hiker who said a rattlesnake\u00a0bit her ankle<\/a>. The emergency marked the latest in a series of unfortunate rattlesnake encounters in California this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n After firefighters carried her down the trail, the hiker went to a nearby hospital for treatment,\u00a0Montecito Fire Department spokesperson Christina Atchison told SFGATE. There was no additional information about her condition as of Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The bite comes after two recent fatal rattlesnake bites<\/a> in Southern California in 2026 \u2014 which together were highly unusual given that nationwide, only about five people<\/a> die from snakebites of any kind each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just so terribly tragic that these deaths happened, and it\u2019s something that\u2019s really rare,\u201d Emily Taylor<\/a>, the director of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo\u2019s Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Lab, told SFGATE.<\/p>\n An\u00a0upward<\/a> trend of viper encounters seems to be emerging this year, including the two fatalities. A 25-year-old<\/a> mountain biker died after a rattlesnake bit him on trail in Orange County on\u00a0Feb. 1, and a\u00a046-year-old hiker<\/a> died after bite in Ventura County on March 14. Meanwhile, Ventura County Fire Department has responded to six calls about rattlesnake bites since mid-March, compared to nine total bite calls and no deaths in 2025. A county spokesperson said that for all snakebites, 10 people went to an emergency department last month, while typically there are fewer than two visits in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In San Luis\u00a0Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, Taylor runs a hotline<\/a> where she takes rattlesnakes out of residential yards and relocates them into the wild. She said there was a \u201cmassive increase in traffic,\u201d with about 40 calls in March alone, compared with the typical one or two that month. She normally only gets about 100 calls annually.\u00a0<\/p>\n This year, the California Poison Control System recorded 77 calls about rattlesnake bites through March, compared with up to 300 annual calls on average, according to the Los Angeles Times.<\/a><\/p>\n Among scientists who study the approximately seven rattlesnake species that call California home, there seems to be agreement that the unprecedented heat<\/a> in March drew the reptiles into the open earlier than normal. Assuming winter was over given the balmy weather, the males came out of hiding to search for mates, and all the snakes were looking for food.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re absolutely out early,\u201d\u00a0William Hayes<\/a>, a Loma Linda University professor\u00a0who studies rattlesnakes<\/a>, told SFGATE. \u201cI monitor some dens where they overwinter, and they emptied a month early. Everything is early in California here this year, so we shouldn\u2019t be surprised at this early surge in snake bites.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor added: \u201cWe know for a fact that because of the weather, they came out early.\u201d Other reasons why the reptiles have been more active are more speculative, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a relatively wet early winter, so I can speculate that we\u2019re potentially having some booms in rodent activity, for example. I\u2019ve noticed qualitatively that a lot of the snakes have food items in their bellies a little early compared to normal,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another possible part of the story is that more people were out on the trails enjoying the unseasonably pleasant weather, Taylor added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Despite these explanations, two fatal bites occurring so close to one another was statistically unlikely, according to both herpetologists. Although the culprit species in both cases was probably a Southern Pacific rattlesnake, which has highly toxic venom that can lead to more severe symptoms, the odds of death from a rattlesnake bite are extremely low<\/a>. Neither could explain for sure what happened in the recent events.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople often assume one snake bite is the same as another snake bite,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBut the truth is that a lot of factors impact the severity of a snake bite, such as how much venom is injected, the composition of that venom, the health of the person bitten, and even whether people were exerting themselves out on the trails.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew\u00a0Dowd, a spokesperson for Ventura County Fire Department, offered some safety measures, including staying on clearly marked paths, avoiding tall grass, wearing hiking boots and long pants, and watching your feet.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery encounter that has happened here in Ventura County has been accidental,\u201d he told\u00a0SFGATE. \u201cAvoiding them is the best way to protect yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In the case of a bite, getting to a hospital as soon as possible for\u00a0antivenom is the only option as first responders don\u2019t carry it, according to Hayes, so be sure to take a charged cellphone when exploring outdoors so you can call 911 in the event of an emergency.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease remember that these snakes are not out to get us,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWhen they see us, their heart rate goes up and their first instinct is to not move and hope that we don\u2019t see them. Once they realize we might be approaching them, then they\u2019re going to defend themselves, but only as a measure of last resort.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n