{"id":3001,"date":"2026-05-09T11:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T18:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/?p=3001"},"modified":"2026-05-23T10:47:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T17:47:33","slug":"rattlesnakes-still-out-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/2026\/05\/rattlesnakes-still-out-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Rattlesnakes &#8211; Are Out There!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Rattlesnakes\u2014They&#8217;re out &#8211; and they&#8217;re biting.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a good time, to brush up on rattle\u00adsnake behavior, safety strategies, and what to do if you suffer a bite.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rattlers 101<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Randy Babb, a biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, along with other reference sources, provides some guidance when encountering a rattlesnake.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Southern Arizona is home to nine or 10 species of rattlesnakes, depending on how one defines the region.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s possible to encounter one on any warm day of the year even though they&#8217;re usually inactive during the winter months.<\/li>\n<li>When rattlers come out of their dens in the spring, they sometimes slither many miles to their summering grounds.<\/li>\n<li>Their peak daytime activity comes in the warm months of spring and in September and October. They\u2019re often out at night in the hot summer season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>About those Bites<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Western diamond rattlesnakes, a large species that can deliver a big dose of venom, account for most of the bites in Southern Arizona.<\/li>\n<li>Between 150 and 250 snakebites are reported to the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center in a typical year. Experts estimate the actual number of snake bites is closer to 350.<\/li>\n<li>Only a very small percentage of victims die as a result of bites. In a recent 10-year period, poison centers reported 1,912 bites leading to only four deaths. The most recent confirmed snakebite death in Arizona was in 2007.<\/li>\n<li>Prompt treatment at a medical facility with antivenin is the main reason for the high survival rate. Another is that an estimated 10 percent or more of rattler strikes are &#8220;dry bites,&#8221; which deliver no venom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Rattlesnakes sometimes coil and rattle be\u00adfore striking &#8211; but not always. People have been bitten by snakes that didn&#8217;t sound a rattling warning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Staying Safe<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>A <\/em>&#8220;golden rule&#8221; for avoiding snake bites is to watch where you put your hands and feet.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Simply put: Don&#8217;t mess with snakes. More than half the bites reported to the Poison and Drug Information Center involved peo\u00adple who saw a snake, recognized the danger, and still chose to approach the snake.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t even mess with a dead or decapitated snake. The head can still deliver a venomous bite minutes after death by a sort of reflex reaction.<\/li>\n<li>If you see a snake, step back slowly and move a safe distance away.<\/li>\n<li>If you are bitten, go immediately to a medical facility. Don&#8217;t use a tourniquet or make incisions around the bite because you&#8217;re likely to do more harm than good. Don&#8217;t try to capture or kill the snake for identification. It&#8217;s dangerous and not necessary because all rattler bites are treated with the same antivenin.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Snake Removal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some fire departments will remove rattlers from a house or confined yard. Call the Golder Ranch Fire Department (520) 818-1017, (or 911 in case of an emergency) for details on snake-removal services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Poison Control Information<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>Call 1-800-222-1222 anytime for information on snakebites. The line is operated by the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy.<\/p>\n<p><em>Source:<br \/>\n<\/em><em>Arizona <\/em>Daily Star<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rattlesnakes\u2014They&#8217;re out &#8211; and they&#8217;re biting. It&#8217;s a good time, to brush up on rattle\u00adsnake behavior, safety strategies, and what to do if you suffer a bite. Rattlers 101 Randy Babb, a biologist with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, along with other reference sources, provides some guidance when encountering a rattlesnake. Southern Arizona is &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/2026\/05\/rattlesnakes-still-out-there\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Rattlesnakes &#8211; Are Out There!&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fyi"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3001"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4121,"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3001\/revisions\/4121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eaglesbluffhoa.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}