AI6YR Ben1d ago

VCSTAR: Rattlesnake bite sends Ventura County teen to hospital for days

"...When she hit a particularly narrow stretch, the 14-year-old got off her bike to walk through but slipped on an uneven patch of ground...."

(paywall, paper has hardly any content nowadays)

https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/special-reports/outdoors/2026/04/03/rattlesnake-bite-sends-newbury-park-teen-to-hospital-for-days/89341284007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z119936p119950c119950e003700v119936d--xx--b--xx--&gca-ft=32&gca-ds=sophi

#rattlesnakes #conejovalley #VenturaCounty

Rattlesnake bite sends Ventura County teen to hospital for days

A Newbury Park teen was hospitalized for days after a rattlesnake bite. Here's what happened.

Ventura County Star
Show threadd.rift
@ai6yr this is all so weird to me... they're rattlesnakes. I've met rattlesnakes. They rattle, you step back, they snake on past... nobody gets hurt. They're not in my experience looking to just snack a leg.
Apr 3 at 3:19pmWeb
Show threadJohn1d ago

@d_rift @ai6yr I once saw a video clip. It was selling snake-proof chaps. It absolutely made my skin crawl - but what it was was essentially people stepping over logs without looking again and again and getting bit in the calf.

I guess we should add that one to the list. Don't step over the log. Step onto the log. Then take a bigger step on the other side.

Show threadAI6YR Ben1d ago
@buckfiftyseven @d_rift LOL on "stepping over a log"
Show threadmoggie1d ago

That may be the result of some advice I've seen passed around in many places. It's intended to help you avoid falling while hiking, which is a much more common occurrence than snakebites.

Never go over something if you can go around it.
Never step on something if you can step over it.

@buckfiftyseven @d_rift @ai6yr

Show threadJohn23h ago
@EverydayMoggie @d_rift @ai6yr That's interesting. Perhaps. The logs we have here in the southwest tend to be solid and smooth and good footing. I guess it would be a whole different thing if they were slippery!
Show threadd.rift23h ago
@buckfiftyseven @EverydayMoggie @ai6yr I was taught to carry a hiking stick. Not to hurt any rattlers but you stab it where you mean to step so you don't startle 'em. Great for balance too, and catching out those nasty loose rocks before your weight goes on.
Show threadcetan2h ago
@buckfiftyseven @d_rift @ai6yr when backpacking in New Mexico as a youth we were told to always always pause and look before stepping over any logs (or other obstacles) across the trail. The snakes rest against them for warmth (reflective and radiative) and you can easily be bitten if you are not checking. That advice has stuck with me.
Show threadBen Pfaff23h ago
@d_rift @ai6yr I've known 14 year olds who were constantly wearing headphones and wouldn't hear a rattlesnake.
Show threadDarwin Woodka23h ago

@d_rift @ai6yr

well they don't always rattle and if you step on them they gonna bite

Show threadrand ❌👑23h ago
@d_rift @ai6yr Some time back, I heard/read that rattlesnakes were losing their rattle. I’m not sure if they can’t, or just don’t. But this is supposedly an adaptation to the ones that rattle getting removed from the gene pool and those that don’t proving Darwin right. I thought it was interesting, but I never tried to find any real evidence for this. So perhaps just hearsay.