Today’s question was posed to us by recent Park visitor.
The question is:
I saw this snake on the trail, but it wasn’t a rattlesnake … or was it? It didn’t rattle.
We checked it out! Here is a photo of the snake in question:
And the answer is:
Definitely a rattlesnake!
It’s a young Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri), which is the only rattlesnake that occurs in our area. The only other snake in the Wilderness Park with a similar pattern is the San Diego Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer annectens). Here’s how to tell them apart (image and information adapted from California Herps’ “Living with Rattlesnakes”):
Rattlesnake:
• Triangular head, definitely larger than neck
• Thick, dull, non-glossy body
• Blunt tail with one or more rattles
Gohpersnake:
• Head only slightly larger than neck
• Slender, glossy body
• Pointed tail
You can see that the subject of our question meets all three criteria for rattlesnakes!
Close examination of this one’s tail reveals two rattle segments in addition to the terminal button (which it had when it was born). Young rattlesnakes grow quickly, and they add a new rattle segment each time they shed their skin, so this one is probably less than a year old.
As evidenced by the snake that prompted the question, rattlesnakes do not always rattle. Again, from “Living with Rattlesnakes”: “They will often remain silent when they sense a threat, using their cryptic color and pattern to blend into their surroundings to hide from the threat. In this situation making noise risks advertising their presence. They also use their natural camouflage to hunt by sitting still and not rattling, trying to remain invisible as they wait for a warm-blooded prey animal to pass close enough for the snake to strike it,” although they do often rattle loudly to warn potential enemies of their presence.
Rattlesnakes are the only venomous snakes in our area. (Although some people might call them as “poisonous”, they’re not – poisonous snakes are technically ones that make you sick if your eat them.) Although rattlesnake bites can be extremely dangerous, rattlesnakes are not aggressive or vicious. They do not strike or bite without provocation. If rattlesnakes are given some space and time to escape to a safe place, they will usually just crawl away and avoid confrontation.
What should you do if you meet a rattlesnake in the Wilderness Park:
- Leave it alone!
- Give the snake a wide berth and walk by; if you can’t pass comfortably at a distance, retrace your steps.
- Don’t even think about picking it up or poking it with a stick!
- Don’t yell at the snake or throw rocks at them. They have poor hearing, so they won’t hear you shouting and hitting one with a rock will just irritate or injure the snake.
Be proactive to minimize rattlesnake encounters:
- Be alert! Rattlesnake behavior changes with the weather. When they want to warm up, they may bask right in the middle of the trail.
- Stick to the trails. (You’re supposed to do this, anyway!) During the day, snakes may hide in tall grass, weeds or heavy underbrush.
- Check out stumps or logs before sitting down.
- Don’t hike alone. Always have someone with you who can assist in an emergency.
- Leash your dog. (This is already required in the Wilderness Park!) Dogs are at increased risk of being bitten due to holding their nose to the ground while investigating the outdoors.
What should you do if you are bitten?
- Stay calm but act quickly.
- Remove watches, rings, etc., which may constrict swelling.
- Call the Claremont Police Department emergency number (909) 626-1296.
- Transport the victim to the nearest medical facility.
- Don’t apply a tourniquet, pack the bit in ice, cut the wound with a knife or razor, or use your mouth to suck out the venom!
More information:
- California Department of Fish & Wildlife: Rattlesnakes in California
- CaliforniaHerps.com: Living with Rattlesnakes
- LA Times: It’s rattlesnake season: 12 things you need to know
What’s your question? If you have a question about the Wilderness Park, please email us at info@friendsofthewildernesspark.org.
As the name implies, the host for Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak caterpillars is Mountain Mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), but the adults love to nectar on buckwheat. Like the Bernardino Dotted-Blues, these butterflies only fly in June and July. Look for a brownish-gray butterfly with a white streak on the wings and a little “tail” on the hindwing.
The Ceraunus Blue butterfly is seldom found in this area; its normal range is south and east of here in South Texas, Florida, Mexico, and Central and South America. This year, however, a number are showing up in our area. Look for small bluish-grey butterflies with a series of darker dashes on the wings and one or two “eyespots” near the bottom edge of the hindwing.
The Pacific Burrowing Wasp is a “beewolf”, a solitary, predatory wasp that preys on bees. Female beewolves dig nests in the ground, then hunt bees, which they place in the nest. They then lay their eggs on the bees, which become food for the larvae. The adults, however, eat pollen and sip nectar. These colorful yellow and black, green-eyed little wasps won’t bother people – just bees.
Leafcutter Bees do not live in hives like honeybees; they are solitary and usually nest in pre-existing holes in wood or hollow stems. Females typically cut neat, round pieces out of leaves to serve as separators between cells in their nests. They collect pollen to feed their young. Unlike honeybees and many other bees, which have “pollen baskets” on their legs, female Leafcutter bees have a furry abdomen for collecting pollen. (If you see a bee with a yellow tummy, it’s probably a Megachile.) When the female Leafcutter bee returns to the nest with pollen and some nectar in her crop, she kneads the mixture into a bee loaf, adding some of her saliva, which may contain antibacterial and fungicidal substances. After repeated trips to build the large enough bee loaf, she will lay an egg on top and seal the chamber with chewed-up leaves. Leafcutter bees are good pollinators and unlikely to sting. If you’d like to attract some to your garden, you might try putting a “bee hotel” near some flowers; a Megachile may 
These green-eyed yellow flies actually belong to the insect family of Horse and Deer Flies (Tabanidae), but unlike typical members of this family, Pegasomyia do not drink blood; they eat pollen and drink nectar from flowers. A vegetarian Horse Fly – who knew! The bright colored eyes are iridescent and can look red or green depending on the viewing and lighting angles.
Female Golden Paper Wasps lay their eggs in cells in the familiar “paper” nest, then when the larvae hatch, they hunt caterpillars to feed them. Interestingly, they don’t sting their prey, but use their powerful mandibles to chew the prey into pieces to feed the larvae. The adults, like the one here, generally take nectar. Golden Paper Wasps are generally not aggressive and are unlikely to sting unless provoked. They can actually make a nice addition to your garden, as they will help to control caterpillars.
Friends of the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park 