FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Rattlesnake bites are rising across California this year, and Fresno County is seeing the impact as pets and people encounter the snakes earlier and more often.<\/p>\n
In Prather, Tim Adams said he has noticed more rattlesnakes than usual in the foothills where he has lived for more than 20 years. \u201cI’ve seen a lot more snakes this year dead on the road and have in 20 years,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n
Adams said his family\u2019s dog, Duke, was bitten on the nose. \u201cMy wife called me and told me the dog got bit by a snake and got bit on the nose,\u201d he said. Adams said two more dogs in his neighborhood were bitten within a week. \u201cWe then got a notification from our neighbors on Sunday their dog got bit by a rattlesnake and then Monday their son’s dog got bit by a rattlesnake,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rattlesnake bites rise in California; Fresno County vets urge caution for pets<\/p>\n
Rattlesnake bites have not only affected pets. According to beaconbio.org, three people have already died from snake bites in California this year alone, compared with a statewide average of about one death from a rattlesnake per year.<\/p>\n
A biology professor who is also the owner of Central Coast Snake Services, Emily Taylor said spring typically brings an increase in rattlesnake activity. \u201cEvery spring we have an increase in rattlesnake activity as they start to come out of hibernation and they’re looking for food and mates,\u201d Taylor said. The professor said this year\u2019s activity started earlier than usual. \u201cThis year we had a really early spring where they all started coming out in March as opposed to usually April,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n
Adams said he took Duke to the vet for treatment and that the dog has fully recovered. He said his family is now taking extra precautions before letting Duke outside. \u201cMy wife goes out before she lets him out and with a flashlight look around for us in all the corners where they’d be hiding and then let him out,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n
The cost of treatment can be significant. Adams said he paid $1,700 for antivenom for his dog.<\/p>\n
Snake attacks are more common in May and July, making it important to stay alert for rattlesnakes and seek veterinary care quickly if a pet shows intense swelling after a suspected bite.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 Rattlesnake bites are rising across California this year, and Fresno County is seeing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-333873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}