Emily Taylor has lived in California for 20 years and has never received as many calls about rattlesnakes as she did last month.
Taylor owns Central Coast Snake Services, a snake consulting business, directs the Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Laboratory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is part of a network of volunteers who help ethically relocate rattlesnakes into the wild.
His phone was ringing “off the hook” with people calling about rattlesnake sightings throughout the state, he said.
In March, two people were fatally bitten by rattlesnakes in Southern California alone, a 46-year-old woman in Ventura County and a 25-year-old man in Orange County. Nationally, about one in five people a year die from rattlesnake bites, according to health officials. Four incidents of rattlesnake bites were reported in Ventura County since March 14, compared to a total of nine in 2025.
The California Poison Control System has reported 77 calls of rattlesnake bites in the first three months of 2026. Poison Control reports an average of 200 to 300 rattlesnake bites annually.
In her work on the Central Coast, Taylor said she has responded to calls from people who have encountered rattlesnakes in their backyards.
“We usually only get one or two (calls) in March before the situation gets worse in April,” he said.
Taylor said he has already received about 10 to 20 times the number of calls from people in his community.
Why? Simply put: snakes have been more active – and so have people.
Unseasonably warm weather patterns, including an unprecedented heatwave in March, have driven rattlesnakes out of their winter shelters in search of food and mates, a month before the normal start of rattlesnake season, Taylor said. Similarly, warmer temperatures have forced outdoor enthusiasts onto trails, increasing the likelihood of encounters with snakes.
A typical rattlesnake season
Rattlesnake season in California is misnamed because they are active year-round, meaning rattlesnakes can be seen year-round.
But they’re less active during the winter, Taylor said, so you’re less likely to see them.
A snake may come out if it’s warm weather to get a little sunlight during the winter, said Greg Pauley, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
“As temperatures warm in the spring, we see a dramatic increase in daytime surface activity,” Pauly said. “After eating nothing or very little during the winter months, rattlesnakes become actively looking for food and also mates in the spring.”
Rattlesnakes like to hide in intricate rock formations, tall grass, and squirrel holes. In mountainous areas such as Big Bear, several rattlesnakes will live together in a den. In lowland areas, including Los Angeles, rattlesnakes have underground burrows that are home to one or maybe two snakes, Taylor said.
The peak season of rattlesnake activity generally occurs from April to October; This is also when the California Poison Control System receives the most calls of rattlesnake encounters.
Who started rattlesnake season?
Rattlesnake activity is largely determined by local weather, Pauly said.
“Rattlesnakes use warm temperatures as a signal when it’s time for them to come out and be active,” Taylor said.
This year, unusually warm weather in March, an abundance of plants and a healthy amount of prey were early signals for rattlesnakes to begin their activity.
“We had good rain at the beginning of winter and then unusually warm weather,” Pauly said. “With good plant growth, the rodent population is doing well, so the snakes have good food sources and the warmer temperatures are triggering more surface activity.”
Rattlesnakes perform their best in warm temperatures, especially in the high 70s to low 80s.
Lately, temperatures have been getting cooler at night, so most of their activity is occurring during the day.
“Unfortunately,” Taylor said, “this has led to a lot of really negative types of rattlesnake encounters.”
Later in the rattlesnake season, Pauly said, “Temperatures will be too high for rattlesnake activity in the middle of the day in lower elevation areas, and snakes will be active in the morning, evening and later at night.”
So, snakes are active. Should we panic?
He says Taylor and Pauley want to set the record straight about rattlesnakes, whose representation as an evil or villainous serpent is undeserved.
Here are some myths debunked by experts.
Imagination: Rattlesnakes keep waiting to bite humans.
fact: Rattlesnakes want nothing to do with humans. Rattlesnakes suffer from being hit by cars and from exposure to rodenticides, Pauley said.
Entangling with people is bad news for rattlesnakes because people often try to kill them, Taylor said.
“As a result, rattlesnakes tend to occur in less developed areas, which is why they are seen more often when people are hiking in wooded areas,” Pauly said.
Taylor said a rattlesnake’s first line of defense is camouflage.
Although snakes use their venom to defend themselves, studies have shown that the chemical nature of snake venom is primarily suitable for killing their prey, such as rodents, he said.
Rattlesnakes “evolved this venom hundreds of millions of years before people in North America.”
Rattlesnakes like to save their venom for subduing their prey, he said.
Imagination: You can always tell there is a rattlesnake nearby because you will hear their rattle.
fact: Like different people, different rattlesnakes vary greatly in the way they interpret threats, Pauly said.
Some rattlesnakes may become disturbed by a person up to 20 feet away and rattle in hopes of getting that person to leave the area.
“Other rattlesnakes prefer to rely on their excellent camouflage and may not rattle or move unless the person is very close,” he said.
So, experts say it’s a good idea to pay close attention to your surroundings while hiking.
Experts say be careful — but don’t assume rattlesnakes are dangerous. They play an important role in the ecosystem, eating rodents such as ground squirrels, which often spread diseases such as hantavirus, plague, and Lyme disease.
If the snake’s prey contains seeds in its cheeks, “they will scatter those seeds, acting as nature’s gardener, tossing the seeds into a little pile of fertilizer,” Taylor said.
Taylor said that even in the rattlesnake victory column, their venom has been a major source of inspiration for medical treatments. Scientists are exploring how snake venom could solve the problem cancer, stroke And Alzheimer’s disease, she said.
What to do if you encounter a rattlesnake?
Death from a rattlesnake bite is a rare occurrence. About 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes annually, and – despite two recent deaths in Southern California – only five of those bitten typically die, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you see a rattlesnake in the wild, experts say the best thing you can do is put distance between you and it. Back away from the snake slowly.
“Don’t step back too quickly because…you could stumble and injure yourself,” Taylor said.
If you’re wondering if you’re far enough away, you’re pretty close, Pauly said. If the snake attacks, he said, “they attack faster than people can react.”
“Give rattlesnakes at least three to four feet of space, and larger individuals even more,” he said. “Keep your distance, take some photos to add to a community science platform like iNaturalist, and then let yourself and the snake continue on their journey.”
When you’re enjoying a trail, stay on the designated path and avoid walking in tall grass or areas where you can’t see the ground.
While hiking, if you need to rest on a log or rock, be sure to inspect it before taking a seat.
