We touched on this in Friday’s Friday Five, but considering the response, I figured it deserved more than a bullet point.
If you’re just joining us, two people are dead. A third was hospitalized. The U.S. Forest Service put out a formal warning and we’re not even at peak season yet. What the hell am I talking about? Rattlesnakes in LA County, West Hollywood adjacent to be more specific.
We talked about Gabriela Bautista on Friday. She was only 46. She was hiking at Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks on March 14 when a rattlesnake bit her. She was airlifted out and died five days later. The Ventura County Medical Examiner listed her cause of death as rattlesnake venom toxicity.
Julian Hernandez was even younger. He was only 25. He was mountain biking a trail in Irvine on February 1. He simply lost his balance and fell into brush beside the path where there was a snake. His family said he never really came back from it and died on March 4.
A teenage girl was bitten March 20 near another Thousand Oaks trailhead. Thankfully, she made it.
Ventura County fire officials logged nine rattlesnake bites in all of 2025. They’ve already had four since March 14.
West Hollywood residents who hike Runyon Canyon (or any of our local trails) before work, after work, on weekends and with their dogs — this is for you.
Two Deaths Before Peak Season — That’s Not Normal
In the United States, roughly 7,000 to 8,000 people a year get bitten by venomous snakes. Five or six of them die. That’s the national average. All fifty states, all year.
California accounts for about 800 bites a year, around 10 percent of the country’s total, according to the Division of Medical Toxicology at UC San Diego Health System. In a typical year, one or two Californians die from rattlesnake bites statewide.
Two deaths in Southern California before April is not typical.
One other thing worth knowing: about 25 percent of rattlesnake bites are dry. No venom delivered. Those bites still require immediate medical treatment. The other 75 percent are not dry.
Death is the outcome people fear the most. It’s also the least likely. The CDC says permanent injury rates for rattlesnake bite survivors is somewhere between 10 and 44 percent — lost finger function, partial amputation, nerve damage, chronic pain. A California study that followed bite victims long-term found nearly half still had symptoms years later.
What Pulled Them Out Early
Rattlesnakes don’t actually hibernate. They slow way down in cold weather, metabolism drops, they go still, they wait. The second it warms up, they’re back out.
As we all know, March 2026 broke heat records across Southern California. That kind of extended, brutal heat was enough to end that slowdown weeks ahead of schedule.
“In the last two weeks we’ve had a lot of activity, a little more than normal,” said Melissa Borde, manager at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach. “In one day, I had three reports from the public.”
She said more is coming. “With the warm forecast over the next couple of weeks, I think they’re going to be pretty active. And not just rattlesnakes, you’ll see gopher snakes and other reptiles.”
Under normal conditions, the Southern Pacific rattlesnake runs active from late March through early November. Right now is the front edge of that window, pushed earlier by the heat. Early morning hours and evening are when they’re most active. Midday they look for shade. On warm nights they can stay out well past midnight. Dawn and dusk hikers should know this.
The Snake on Runyon and Other Local Trails
Local canyon trailhead signs warn about rattlesnakes. They have for years. Most people walk past them, including me. I hike Runyon a few times a week and have for 20 years. I’ve all but ignored those signs. I’ve even seen a rattlesnake cross the road and still it felt like being bit was something that happened to others. Until now.
That snake is the Southern Pacific rattlesnake, Crotalus helleri. LA County, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Diego, Santa Barbara — it’s everywhere out here. Chaparral, rocky hillsides, canyon brush. Runyon. Fryman. Franklin Canyon. All of it.
Adults run roughly 24 to 55 inches. Coloring is pale brown or gray-brown with dark blotches that become more diamond-shaped moving toward the tail. They blend into dirt trails exceptionally well.
Here’s what makes this particular snake complicated. The venom from this snake isn’t the same snake to snake. Some populations carry hemotoxic venom, attacking blood, tissue, and muscle. Others go neurotoxic, straight to the nervous system. Scientists who study this have described the variation as “medically significant.” What that means practically: the antivenin dose required can differ substantially based on where in the region the bite happened. The emergency room treating you may not know which type you were exposed to until your symptoms start declaring themselves.
No public database tracks rattlesnake bites specifically at Runyon Canyon. The City of Los Angeles doesn’t maintain a record that we could find either. What the experts will say is that urban parks with heavy brush, rocky terrain, and dense rodent populations are prime habitat. Runyon, Griffith, Fryman, all of the local trails check every box.
You Won’t Always Hear It First
No rattle required. No coiling required. A threatened snake might warn you, might not. Might retreat. Might just sit there until something touches it. There’s no pattern you can count on.
“Often times we see bites occur right near the edge of a trail,” said Capt. Greg Barta with Orange County Fire Authority. “So if you’re out walking, hiking, stay in the middle of the trail, keep those AirPods out so you’re not distracted and you can hear as well.”
The person who steps off the path into brush to get a better look at something and then feels a sharp pain in their calf may never have heard a sound or seen it coming.
How Fast and How Far
USFS rangers have warned that rattlesnakes can strike up to their full body length, in some cases beyond five feet. Yes, you read that right. Most people assume they need more distance than that. They don’t.
A study out of the University of Louisiana found rattlesnakes move forward roughly half a foot in 70 milliseconds when striking. Faster than a human eye blinks. There is no realistic version of a person seeing the strike begin and moving out of the way in time.
What the Venom Does
The Southern Pacific rattlesnake carries two different types of venom depending on the population. Some bites are hemotoxic, attacking the blood, tissue, and muscle. Others are neurotoxic, going straight for the nervous system.
“What that means is that it can create symptoms that look very similar to a stroke, so people can have difficulty talking, difficulty walking,” said Dr. Rom Rahimian, chief medical officer for Huntington Beach Fire. “They’ll have tingling, pins and needles.”
The hemotoxic version produces rapid spreading swelling, bleeding caused by the venom breaking down the blood’s ability to clot, and large fang marks that can disappear under swelling before anyone thinks to look for them.
Most bites happen between April and October. That window technically opens in two days with a deadly early start to the season.
What to Do
Call 911. Stay still. That’s it. Try to stay calm, I know, I can feel your eye rolls now. But try as hard as you can. This is LA, help is not too far away. And if you’re off the main trail or where paramedics can’t get to you easily, just stay put. They will get to you. Any attempt you make to try and get closer to help will only spread the venom. Just stay put. They will get you.
While you’re waiting for help, take off rings, watches, anything tight before swelling starts. Keep the bite below your heart. No tourniquet. No cutting it open. Don’t even think about sucking the venom out.
“We don’t suck the venom out anymore. That’s not a practice that we do. We don’t want you to put restrictive bands or tourniquets or anything like that. Try to just lay still as much as possible until help arrives,” said Andrew Dowd with the Ventura County Fire Department.
Don’t handle a dead snake either. Reflex action can produce a venomous bite for an hour or more after the animal has died.
If you end up at Cedars-Sinai or UCLA Ronald Reagan, you’re in good hands. UCLA has a dedicated toxicology division that specifically treats snake bites — one of the few programs of its kind in Southern California.
Dogs
Honestly, dogs are the bigger worry.
Nose down, tail up, sniffing everything. That’s your dog on a trail. They’re going to find a snake you never knew was there.
If your dog gets bitten, pick it up and carry it. Don’t let it walk out. Keep the bite site lower than the heart if you can manage it. And you guessed it, get to a vet. A rattlesnake vaccine exists for dogs and most Southern California vets carry it.
On the Trail
Middle of the trail. Not the edge. That’s where bites happen — when someone drifts toward the brush line. I know, I know, most trails are two feet wide at best. And the call to wear boots and long pants seems impractical, but it’s what is recommended. Here’s one I never thought of. Before you sit on a rock, look at it. Before you step over a log, step up onto it first and look at the other side. There might be a snake there. There’s no way to know without looking.
After dark, carry a flashlight. Snakes don’t care what time it is on warm nights.
Don’t reach into anything blind. A gap in the rocks, a pile of brush, anywhere you can’t see first. I was doing just this this morning when picking up trash on the side of the trail, which I do often. So, PSA note here — don’t be that a**hole who litters.
The Bigger Picture
“Snakes are often misunderstood. They provide significant ecosystem benefits, such as rodent control, and are an important part of California’s unique biodiversity,” said Vicky Monroe, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Conflict Programs Coordinator.
She’s right. Go outside. Hike the trails. Just maybe pay attention this time.
Snake on the path, stop walking. Let it go where it’s going. Pick up again when it’s clear.
It’s not rocket science — if you get bit call 911. I know it sounds next to impossible to do but try to remember not panicking will help you. The odds of the bite killing you are still fairly low. Just don’t get the chance to find out.
