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I'm planning another backpacking trip near Sunflower in about two weeks. (Trail # 91.)

The highs there a week from today are forecast to be in the low 60's. I expect the same, or warmer, in two weeks.

This seems warm enough for rattlesnakes to be out, yes?

When do the babies hatch?

I found a post in this forum from years ago, warning someone about rattlesnakes in the Superstitions in February. That seemed early to me. But I'm ignorant.

I think my hearing is still okay, to hear a rattle of an adult ... but I hear that baby rattlers don't have rattles.

But my reflexes are way slow. I've run over things with the lawnmower even though I saw them a few feet beforehand.

@TooOld2HikeQ
I have seen rattlers in every month of the year, with Dec & Jan being rather infrequent. I’ve encountered them in near freezing temps and just below the snow line. They typically start making an appearance in Feb. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but I think babies come out around Aug. Worrying about them usually causes more anxiety than actually seeing one. Just be careful walking through tall grass and where you put your hands/feet in rocky areas.

LindaAnn wrote:I have seen rattlers in every month of the year, with Dec & Jan being rather infrequent. I’ve encountered them in near freezing temps and just below the snow line.

Same here. Once it was during Thanksgiving week near Bonito Creek, a couple hours after dawn with air temps just a few degrees above freezing. The angry rattler was parked in a tuft of grass adjacent to the trail that was getting direct sunlight.

I've come to rely mostly on snakes not wanting to get involved with large animals with heavy footsteps. I try not to think about all the ones I never saw, because there were probably 20 for every one I did.

Rattlesnake eggs are very rare but you can tell them apart from all other eggs by shaking them.
If they rattle when shaken they are ready to hatch so look out!

@LindaAnn
Thanks. But, Yikes! February? I hiked near Sunflower in February and wasn't on the look out because I thought it was impossible for them to be out.

@big_load
Yeah, like flying. We know the aircraft that were near hits because we saw them. But the other guy rarely saw us. (They didn't take any evasive action.)

So I have to wonder how many near hits I've had flying.

I saw a dead baby rattler once in the tunnel at North Mountain Park. I don't remember the season. They sure blend in well. (This one was dead on the pebbles.)

I might be able to avoid one on a trail. But it's the ones hiding under the brush by the trail, that I can't see, that scare me the most.

I recently saw a TV program about a girl (teenager) who was bit while she was down in the Grand Canyon. Her group was by a swimming hole and when she stepped near a bush, she said she felt a searing pain in her leg.

And I heard a news story of some poor woman who was trail running. (White Tanks, I think.) Apparently she had come around a bend and ran into a rattlesnake. They found a headless snake by her dead body.

And I saw a video by ''Darwin on the Trail' hiking a section of the AZT by the Matazals (kinda where I plan to be). His group of three accidently came across three large snakes, extended on the trail. The snakes caught them by surprise. (And vice versa.) I'm amazed that no one trampled on one of the snakes. Or twisted an ankle trying to avoid them.

Other than that, I saw a large rattlesnake coiled up on the driveway at a House Church I used to attend in Humboldt. It was evening. Dark out and the rattler was dark.

I chatted with a long time SAR volunteer down here in Tucson. Asked him about doing rescues on snake bite victims in snake filled southern Arizona. He told me that in almost 50 years of being on SARA and 20 years of leading rescues for the SAR teams for over 2000 rescues, not a single one was a snake bite victim. Getting bit while hiking is so rare that it's almost unheard of. The most dangerous place to get bit is in your yard while landscaping or gardening.

AZ Black Rattlesnake in the Rincon Mountains at 6000' January there was snow on the ground near the snake,
[ photo ]

@TooOld2HikeQ
Like @LindaAnn I have seen rattlers every month of the year including once IN snow, and I have had literally hundreds of close encounters, posting over 2 dozen of those on YouTube as well as two occasions when I actually stepped on an unseen rattler yet have never come off with a less-than-good outcome... nowhere close to being bitten.

(My only dangerous, potentially fatal snake encounters were with black mambas when I lived in South Africa during my youth, the worst being losing my dog to the mamba which was striking at me... dog got bit, then bit head of snake and both died.
Second worst was actually stepping on a black mamba then running away so fast I survived the encounter.
Until her dying day my mother always wondered how I survived my youth let alone now over 7 decades)

And now with all of my experiences after just shy of 73 years of age, I fully agree:
Worrying about them usually causes more anxiety than actually seeing one.

I agree with @SpiderLegs as well Getting bit while hiking is so rare that it's almost unheard of.

In Arizona, even as a regular hiker there is a MUCH greater chance of being struck by lightning than bitten by rattlesnake.
And lest I forget, an ASTRONOMICALLY GREATER chance of being killed in a car accident on the way to/from a hike. Or even just driving to the grocery store.

CannondaleKid wrote:In Arizona, even as a regular hiker there is a MUCH greater chance of being struck by lightning than bitten by rattlesnake.
And lest I forget, an ASTRONOMICALLY GREATER chance of being killed in a car accident on the way to/from a hike. Or even just driving to the grocery store.

My brother is a sheriff's deputy and patrols some of the areas I drive to early on Saturday morning to go hiking on. It was comforting to hear that at 5-6AM roughly 20-25% of the other driver's are still legally drunk and attempting to sneak home after sleeping it off for a few hours on their buddy's couch.

Well this is the first year that I haven’t seen a rattlesnake in January or February. And rattlesnakes don’t lay eggs they have live births which can be anywhere from 8 to 12 babies. Arizona I believe has the most species of rattlesnakes. I have seen a Twin spotted Rattlesnake in December at just above 7,000 feet with snow on the ground.

@TooOld2HikeQ
You can’t believe everything you watch on YouTube. Rattlers are not that big a concern if you use common sense. Generally speaking, they don’t want to waste their venom on something they can’t eat, so as long as you don’t mess with one, you’ll be fine. I’ve stepped on them, kicked them, encountered hundreds, and nothing happened, except for maybe an elevated heart rate for a few minutes.

Bees are a much bigger concern than rattlers. They’ve probably killed more people in AZ than any other creature in the last twenty years.

Thanks all.

I hope I don't become one of the rare statistics.

(Yesterday I watched another video of an older couple hiking NoBo on the AZT. She told about a baby rattler that they saw (in southern AZ) but were so scared, they didn't take the cameras out to record their encounter.)

I've stepped on multiples (they reeeeeally blend in in the washes and are hard to see if you're booking it) before noticing. Jumped back, they coiled and rattled, we gave each other some space.

They're usually pretty good at giving you a warning and really aren't anything to be overly concerned about. Almost all bites are something like males between 18-24 involving booze; think you can do the math there

@Pivo
Yikes! It looks ready to strike!

I thought they were cold blooded and so it would have been too cold to move quickly.

@RowdyandMe
I checked the web before I used "hatched." From what I read, they 'lay' eggs, but they lay them internally. So the eggs hatch, in a sense, but the babies come out of mom live. Yes?

@xsproutx
Or hiking with earbuds playing music.

I think March is a big month for rattlesnakes. It's starting to warm up, and they're hungry and horny after a few months of cold. All good reasons for you to go out and enjoy what Arizona has to offer. Here's my video of several Rattlesnake Encounters.

I agree with both statements:
@xsproutx
They're usually pretty good at giving you a warning and really aren't anything to be overly concerned about. Almost all bites are something like males between 18-24 involving booze; think you can do the math there
Whether true or not I can't say, but from statistics I'd come across some years back, many were bitten on the face and upper arms... as though attempting a kiss??
On the other hand, women (without alcohol involvement) were most likely bitten on lower legs/ankles, and from the stats was thought possibly to be from freaking out and jumping all over the place rather than just step away.

@LindaAnn
Bees are a much bigger concern than rattlers.
I wholeheartedly agree with this one.
Thankfully I have no particular allergy to bee stings because I have had the distinct displeasure of being stung numerous times while hiking.
Oh yeah, I don't exactly care for wasps/hornets either, which, unlike bees, can sting multiple times, and much to my dismay with more pain than any other sting... oh wait, except for my encounter with fire ants some 15 years ago, from which I still carry scars to this day.

@RowdyandMe
Yeh, solid point. When I hike with music/podcasts, it's one ear bud only