By Geoff Page
This is a Public Service Announcement – for anyone hiking in the Sunset Cliffs Park south of Ladera Street.
After 40 plus years of discounting stories of rattlesnakes in the park, I was completely shocked to find one in the middle of a well-traveled path on Friday, July 24th. There was no doubt what it was.
The photo above shows what it looked like when I turned a corner and saw what appeared to be a stick. This picture is not the actual snake. Had I been a member of the younger generation that reaches for their cell phone cameras immediately, I could have had a picture.
However, my first concern was to get it off the path so no one else would run into it unexpectedly. My dog almost got to the snake before I did. I was not sure if it was alive as it lay stretched out just like this picture. I went looking for a stick, which took me around a corner. When I came back, it had clearly moved. As I approached, it noticed me and slithered off the path into the underbrush.
I have been taking my dogs to the park for many, many years and have been all over every inch of it. I have seen two snakes in all those years, neither of which were poisonous. I have seen rattlesnakes before so I knew what this was. The snake was about 18 inches long and the tail only had about three or four rattles on it indicating that it was young. Young rattlers are more dangerous than adults.
The spot where I found it is a confluence of three wide paths at the southwest corner of what used to be the ball field.
This was a shock to me and probably will be to many people. Walking on the large paths is probably very safe. If you see something like a stick lying on the ground, pay attention. But, the biggest worry for me is dogs and kids. Dogs crash through the underbrush exploring and chasing critters. Kids are not much different. It is now a serious risk.
There is no signage in the park about this danger, something I intended to pursue.
They are the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. Have seen them on the Bayside Trail at the Lighthouse. The biologists told me the Point has many. When hiking I keep a lookout for them from March through September. There are fox also living here. Scorpions also.
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