As weather warms up, watch for rattlesnakes

The arrival of warmer weather means rattlesnakes are becoming more active.

The venomous snakes can be found in much of the canyon lands and lower areas of north central Idaho and southeastern Washington. While they are generally in undeveloped areas, the snakes can sometimes be encountered in the interface between towns and more wild country, like edges of towns.

Experts say the best way to avoid rattlesnake bites is to leave snakes alone and be wary when in rattlesnake country. Snakes bite defensively and most bites occur when a person attempts to catch or handle a snake. Rattlesnakes can also bite when startled.

“The one message I would have is if people see venomous snakes is just leave them alone, they will eventually leave,” Idaho State University herpetology professor Chuck Peterson told the Tribune in 2016. “Most people think the animal will make an attempt to go after them. That is generally not true. We have handled thousands of rattlesnakes in my lab and it’s pretty rare for a snake to try to bite us before we touch them.”

If a person is bitten by a rattlesnake, the best course of action is to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Once common practices — such as applying a tourniquet, cutting the bite to bleed out the venom or attempting to suck out the venom — are no longer recommended and are now frowned upon.

Instead, medical professionals say the area bitten should be kept below the heart, the victim should remain as inactive as possible and medical treatment should be sought.

About 25% to 40% of rattlesnake bites don’t involve envenomation — meaning the snake does not inject venom into the victim.

Treatment to active bites generally involves receiving doses of anti-venom, which cost thousands of dollars per vial. When administered to a snake bite victim, the anti-venom molecules cling to venom molecules and neutralize them.

Rattlesnakes can be identified by the noise they make when shaking their tail, or by visually identifying their rattles. Young rattlesnakes, known as snakelets, don’t have the ability to make noise but they still shake their tails.

When the tail isn’t visible, rattlesnakes can be identified by the shape of their heads. Like other vipers, they have triangular shaped heads that are wider than the body or neck. Conversely, bull snakes — which have markings and coloration similar to rattlesnakes — have heads that are nearly the same width as their bodies.

Many people believe that young rattlesnakes are more dangerous than mature snakes because they may lack the ability to control how much venom they inject. However, Peterson said large rattlers are far more dangerous.

The adults have much larger fangs and they have much more venom,” Peterson said. “You look at baby rattlesnakes and the volume of those venom glands has to be 5% to 10% of what an adult’s is.”