Rattlesnakes across Colorado are rising from their underground lairs.
Until cold fall weather drives them back to their dens, the snakes will travel as far as 10 miles from their winter homes.
They will seek shade when it’s hot, they will sun themselves when it’s temperate, and most Coloradans never will chance upon the state’s only venomous reptile.
“The average hiker is going to be lucky to bump into a snake, just to see it, once or twice in a lifetime,” says Tyler Baskfield, information specialist with the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Every year, however, some Coloradans are bitten. The best way to avoid becoming a statistic is to “pay attention to where you’re putting your feet and your hands,” Baskfield says. “The other thing people have spoken about is carrying a hiking stick and constantly tapping that on the ground” to alert nearby snakes to your presence.”
Baskfield also recommends wearing boots in the wild. Most bites, he says, happen on feet.
While it’s unusual for an adult to die from a Colorado rattlesnake bite, it can happen. People who fail to seek treatment can get into trouble, as can children and the frail, people bit in the face or neck, and those who have an allergic reaction to venom.
Most rattlesnake bites in Colorado come from prairie rattlesnakes; they populate the Front Range.
Rattlesnakes are found all over Colorado, outside elevations above roughly 9,000 feet, says University of Northern Colorado biology professor Stephen Mackessy.
Seek immediate medical attention if you’re bitten by any of the state’s three rattlesnake species.
“There isn’t a lot you can do in the field for a rattlesnake bite,” he says. “Keep calm. You don’t want to mess around with tourniquets and cutting open wounds and all of those old-wives’ tales.”
– Douglas Brown
