The snakes are out, indeed, but local hero and snake wrangler, Danielle Wall, explains that these camouflaged predators will do anything to avoid confrontation.
If you do see one, or if you hear a rattle: FREEZE, LOCATE, AND BACK AWAY.
Don’t run until you have located it.
If you need to pass a snake, give it space; and if you can’t get past it, gently toss some water or dirt to scare it away.
Note that venomous snakes, especially babies, won’t always have rattles, and, as JTNP Ranger Michael Vamstad adds, rattlesnakes who have never encountered a person won’t necessarily rattle, either. But you can identify a venomous snake in the California hi-desert by the heart-shaped head atop a thinner, indented neck.
Snakes are generally very reserved, Vamstad says, and you can easily walk away.
