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
@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.

@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.

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

@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!
@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.