A 14-year-old girl was taken to the hospital after a rattlesnake bite while biking on the Wendy Trail in Newbury Park, which is only a few miles from her home.
This incident happened around 5:30 p.m. in late March during an afternoon ride with a friend.
Bailey Vanden Bossche and her friend Zoe Burke initially believed she might have broken her ankle since the bite was quite small, with only a single puncture wound visible.
However, the venom spread quickly through her body.
“My face started to tingle, and then I lost my hearing and my body wasn’t feeling well,” Bailey shared. By the time her father arrived, she was unable to move and her face had become disfigured. Firefighters came to help, and she was quickly taken to a nearby hospital for anti-venom treatment, which carries its own risks. Now, she’s recovering at home but is still using crutches due to swelling in her leg.
This incident comes during a concerning rise in rattlesnake encounters across Southern California.
Just weeks before, a 46-year-old woman was bitten to death at Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, also in Ventura County. Earlier this year, a 25-year-old man met the same fate while biking at the Quail Hill Trailhead near Irvine in Orange County.
Experts suggest that the increase in bites is linked to unusually warm temperatures at the season’s start, which has led to more active snakes than typical.
Officials are advising hikers, bikers, and anyone enjoying the outdoors to remain vigilant, wear suitable footwear, and know the appropriate steps to take if bitten. Though rattlesnakes usually shy away from humans and are primarily timid, they can become defensive if startled.
In the U.S., there are about 7,000 to 8,000 venomous snake bites reported each year, but fatalities remain quite rare, with only about 5 to 6 happening annually.
