Snakes! Watch Your Step!
Now that it’s snake season, it’s time to review some facts for residents
who may encounter these creatures close to home or on the trails. We
reached out to Idyllwild Nature Center Ranger Sonny Waldron. Waldron
confirmed that the only local snakes that pose a danger to humans are
rattlers. “The only venomous snakes here in riverside county are
rattlesnakes. We have a few species indigenous to the mountain. The
southern pacific rattler is the most common, and they are dark greenish
grey with diamond patterning on the back. Other mountain suspects are
the speckled rattlesnake and western diamondback rattlesnake.”
Waldron said that the gopher snake is the local snake most often
confused for a rattler because of its markings, and that those
colorfully striped serpents are harmless California mountain kingsnakes.
These have stripes that go red, black, white, black, while the venomous
Coral snake has stripes arranged red, yellow, black, yellow. The famous
rhyme, “red on black, friend to Jack, red on yellow, kill a fellow” is
true. Sonny reassures us that “There are no recorded sightings of coral
snakes in California.”
Snakes are good neighbors. “Snakes are important members of the
ecosystem, venomous or non-venomous. They help keep rodent populations
in check and provide a source of food for other predators to eat them.
Rattlesnakes are only dangerous if provoked or startled. They really
don’t want to waste their venom on us because we are too big to eat.
Many rattle snake bites are ‘dry bites’ meaning the snake does not
inject the venom.” Waldron cast some shade on an often-quoted figure
that 28% of rattle snake bite victims are intoxicated, saying this data
came from a single hospital. Still, it is hard to argue with the advice
not to mix drinking and snake handling. “Most snakebites can be avoided
if you leave the snake alone.”
Those hoping to get close to some snakes and learn more are in luck:
“There are examples of the gopher snakes and mountain kingsnake at the
Nature Center if people want to see them in person. Also, we will be
having a free rattlesnake discussion at the Nature Center [Saturday]
June 15^(th) with William (Bill) Hayes. He will have caged live
rattlesnake examples for people to check out.”
Idyllwild Nature Center, 25225 CA-243, Wednesday- Sunday 9 a.m. to 4
p.m.
