Two Children in Northern California Bitten by Rattlesnakes
Two children were bitten.
— -- It's not duck season. It's not rabbit season.
"This is rattlesnake season for sure," Carolyn Jones, who works at East Bay Regional Parks, told ABC news today.
Jones thinks there's a strong connection between rattlesnake bites and the continuing drought in California.
Two children were bitten by rattlesnakes in the past week in the Northern California area – one in Pittsburg and the other in Folsom.
Two-year-old Ishneet Kaur was bitten on the foot on Tuesday night and flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Oakland, a spokesperson from the hospital said.
“Ishneet got here within 20 minutes,” Melinda Krigel told ABC News today. “Paramedics got lucky and found the rattlesnake so that really helps determine what type of venom is in her body.”
Kaur is still in the hospital, but is expected to be released today or tomorrow, Krigel said.
A 4-year-old boy was the second victim to a rattlesnake bite this week in the Northern California area.
He and his pregnant mom were walking on a bike trail in Folsom, California, when he was also bit in the foot, according to ABC affiliate KGO-TV.
His mother tried to suck the venom out of his foot, which could’ve hurt both her and her baby, KGO said.
"The mama bear instinct in me decided to suck the venom out because apparently that’s what Bonanza does,” she told KGO.
Jones thinks all the rattlesnakes are slithering out onto walkways and trails is because of the recent spike in hot weather in California and the continued drought.
"It's not that there's a boom in the rattlesnake population right now, but the snakes are coming out to find prey," she said. "The connection is that with the drought all animals are looking for water sources and water sources happen to be where more people are."
Jones noted that kids are usually the ones being bitten by rattlesnakes because they tend to be more curious and will pick up the snakes.
Krigel estimated that the Children’s Hospital in Oakland will see five to six more snake bites during the summer months.