MOTHER LODE TRAILS
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Volunteer
  • Links
    • Law Enforcement Emergency
    • Federal, State, County Districts Parks & Trails
    • Running Clubs
    • Equestrian Clubs
    • Mt. Bike Clubs
    • Hiking Clubs
    • Trail Advocacy Organizations
    • Phone Numbers State & Federal Parks, Trails & Lands
    • Where to Eat on the Trails
  • News
  • Alerts

Rattlesnakes are coming out early this year

3/22/2022

 
Picture
Rattlesnakes are coming out of their dens, basking in the sun, and becoming more active - this is a full month early. Today one was seen on Olmstead Loop.

Keep an eye out on the trails below 1500 feet, especially at Cronan Ranch, Folsom Lake SRA, Auburn SRA. In our area, rattlesnakes bite hikers, bikers, runners, dogs, and horses every year, usually starting in April. This year, starting now, in March.


 -  Keep your dogs ON LEASH so they don't get bitten. Rattlesnake avoidance training is available all year round. See trainers online, such as "Get Rattled."
 -  Many horses will alert you to snakes - equestrians should really listen to their horses who can hear and smell them way before their riders can.
 -  Wear long loose pants and high boots.
 -  STAY on the trails. It's almost impossible to see the snakes in high grass.
 -  Mt. bikers, slow down, so you don't run over them (and get bit in the process).


SNAKE FACTS
Most people bitten by rattlesnakes have inadvertently stepped or ridden over them. Snakes detect movement by sensing vibrations in the ground. Their eyes see well even in low light. Rattlesnake bites can be dangerous but are very rarely fatal to humans. With proper medical treatment, including antivenin, bites are usually not serious. Rattlesnakes can strike 2/3rds their length, and they are wonderfully camouflaged in the same color grass.


NOT ALL RATTLE
Young rattlesnakes do not yet have their rattles, though they are as dangerous as adults, according to the National Park Service at Yosemite. Furthermore, some adults may lose their rattles, so it is a good idea look out for the triangular head. 
(In Folsom Lake, for example, rattlesnakes that rattle get killed, those that don't...don't. Meaning that after several generations, we have many families of silent snakes.)
After the rattle, rattlesnakes’ most distinctive physical feature is their triangular head. Also, they have vertical pupils, like cat’s eyes. 

RATTLESNAKES ARE LOCAL
Generation after generation of rattlesnake will use the same dens, sometimes the same den for more than 100 years. Upon leaving their dens, they like to sun themselves on rocks and other open places. Though they are not nocturnal, in the hot summer months they may be more active at night.
​
CALIFORNIA KING SNAKES ARE GOOD SNAKES!
Despite their venom, rattlesnakes are no match for California King snakes, which are fond of putting them on their dinner menus. DON'T KILL CALIFORNIA KING SNAKES! (pictures below)
Picture
Picture

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Home
Contact
 Mother Lode Trails is YOUR local volunteer-run trail information and resource website. Here you can find
up-to-the minute information on trail alerts, links and trail news for Placer,  Yuba, and Nevada counties.
Mother Lode Trails is trademarked.