I am by no means a snake expert, but.......
There is only one kind of venomous snake in California (other than a very rare sea snake that I don't think we have to worry about in this context). And that is the rattlesnake. Rattlesnakes are very easy to identify. So if you see a snake and it isn't a rattlesnake....Don't Panic!!
I hike in the Santa Monica mountains a lot. I see rattlesnakes on the trail all the time. They are almost always very considerate and let you know that they are there with a quick shake of the tail long before you are close enough to do it harm.
From my experience, rattlesnakes are slow. The only time they are fast is within their striking range. Which I would guess is somewhere around 3/4 of their body length. When I encounter a rattlesnake, I simply give it a wide berth when I walk by and put my hiking pole between it and me. If there isn't a whole lot of room, I've used my hiking pole to encourage them to move on.
I worry a lot more about bees than I do snakes.
Last edited by tdtz; 08/11/12 12:10 PM.
