Watch where you step

This is the time of the year when you might step over not just one, but perhaps two of three Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes. Why? Because you might cross trails with them when they are bunched up and heading “home” to spend the winter.

Sunlight and air temperatures are dictating to reptiles that it’s time to head for their winter dens and rock piles. There are about four good-sized rattlesnake dens around Sisters in which both rattlesnakes and gopher snakes like to spend the winter. Normally these two species avoid each other all summer because they just don’t get along, but when it comes to finding a winter hibernaculum (hi-buhr-NAK-yuh-luhm) necessity makes them strange bedfellows.

I have heard that snakes come out of the den on warmish days in winter and sun themselves on the warm rocks, which brings to mind an interesting question: How do they sense the temperate when they are sleeping below the frost line? In this country, that’s about three feet beneath the surface.

One question deserves another: Who tells the snakes it’s warm or spring and time to wake up? Once in the den, no sunlight, then what? Do they have an internal clock that starts ticking when they go from light to dark and descend into the den?

Then there’s the business of baby rattlesnakes…

A gravid female may contain from four to 25 eggs, from which an average of nine or 10 hearty young are born live. The newborn Pacific Rattlesnake is about 10 inches long and has a small horny button on the tip of its tail.

Now remember this… Rattlesnake babies have venom and short fangs and are dangerous from birth because they are more pugnacious than the adults are. Really. Because they are unable to make a rattling sound, the youngsters propel themselves into a defensive stance and strike repeatedly when disturbed. They have to to stay alive.

Young rattlers are also completely independent of their mother. They remain in the area of their birth for seven to 10 days, or until they shed their baby skin and add their first rattle. The litter then begins to disperse and search for food.

As it is with juveniles — in nature and Man — many do not survive that phase of their lives. In the case of rattlesnakes, they may either die of hunger or be eaten by birds, mammals or other snakes. Even if they survive the first summer, they may perish during their first winter if they cannot find a suitable hibernaculum.

Rattlesnakes, for reasons ranging from biblical affiliations to real pain they can inflict, often evoke an irrational, involuntary, senseless reaction in humans that often results in a dead snake. On the other hand, it is only a rare occurrence when someone shoots an SUV, or attacks a motor vehicle with a blunt instrument, but the fact is, cars and trucks kill thousands of times more people than snakes.

But just to make you feel better, according to the American Red Cross, a rattlesnake victim should:

1. Wash the bite with soap and water. 2. Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart. 3. If the bite is on the hand or arm, remove any rings, watches, or tight clothing. 4. Obtain medical help immediately.

If a victim is unable to reach medical care within 30 minutes, a bandage, wrapped two to four inches above the bite, may help slow venom. The bandage should not cut off blood flow from a vein or artery. A good rule of thumb is to make the band loose enough that a finger can slip under it. A suction device may be placed over the bite to help draw venom out of the wound without making cuts. Suction instruments and razor blades are often included in commercial snakebite kits — throw away the razor blades.

Medical professionals do not always agree, but are nearly of one accord in their views of what NOT to do in case of a rattlesnake bite.

DO NOT use ice or any other type of cooling on the bite. DO NOT use tourniquets. This cuts blood flow completely and may result in loss of the affected limb. DO NOT make any incisions in the wound. Such measures have not been proven useful and will cause further injury and infection.

To avoid contact with rattlesnakes watch what you are doing and enjoy our late summer weather.