Record snake season fuels 277 reported bites in California
A 3-year-old girl in Santa Clarita, California, was bitten by a rattlesnake that was hidden beneath an Amazon package outside her home on July 13, her family said. The girl, Addy, was taken by her mother to meet first responders in a nearby grocery store parking lot, where she received an initial dose of antivenom before being transferred to a hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit.
Addy spent two days in the ICU and received two additional doses of antivenom there, her father, Manny Barajas, wrote in a fundraising campaign note. “Tragically, a southern pacific rattlesnake was hiding under the brown padded envelope and bit Addy’s left hand,” Barajas said.
The girl has since been released from the hospital. “She’s doing great now,” Barajas told KTLA. “She’s still bruised on her left hand where she was bitten. Her spirits are high, her demeanor is great, but she keeps asking why she was bitten by a snake.”
The incident occurred during an unusually active snake season in California. Heatwaves that began in March have increased rattlesnake activity across the state, according to reports. The California poison control system has recorded 277 rattlesnake bites so far this year, the Los Angeles Times reported — nearly matching the total the agency typically receives in an entire year.
Three people have died from rattlesnake bites in California this year, roughly two more than the annual average, according to the Times.
Rattlesnakes generally avoid humans but will strike when they feel threatened, cornered or surprised, experts said. Addy’s father said the package had been tossed over the family’s front gate, and she ran out with her mother to retrieve it when the snake, hidden underneath the envelope, bit her left hand.
California poison control and the Los Angeles County Fire Department did not immediately return requests for comment.