The reptiles are once again making an
appearance on the island. Beachgoers are warned not to trek through the dunes.
The rattlesnakes will start to emerge from
their daytime hiding spots as the sun starts setting. Only one person was
bitten by a rattlesnake last year, but nonetheless, it pays to be cautious.
“With a rattlesnake, he bites you, he’s got
to pump those jaws. I got hit once in my leg with those jaws and that when he’s
injecting,” said Hal Newsom with Animal Control Wildlife.
Newsom has been wrangling rattlesnakes
since he was a kid. The varmint trapper says he’s responded to at least 22
rattlesnake calls on Galveston Island in the last three days.
Newsom says since it’s rattlesnake mating
season, and the weather’s getting warmer, the snakes are showing themselves to
beachgoers as they pass through the dunes.
Contrary to popular belief, you’re more
likely to run into rattlesnakes either at dawn or dusk when the snakes are
looking for a spot to cool off.
That’s when Newsom says people are at the
greatest risk.
“They can feel vibrations, they can’t hear,
they got no ears. But when he feels vibrations and gets nervous, that tail
starts to shake,” Newsom said.
Galveston
Island
State Park supervisor Hans Haglund says it’s nature’s way of warning us to
slowly back away.
“They’re not out there to get us. They’re
there to let us know if we don’t mess with it, it won’t mess with us, kind of
deal,” Haglund said.
Experts say if you happen to get bitten by
a rattlesnake at the beach, stay calm and call 911. Don’t try to use a
tourniquet or suck out the poison; just get to the hospital as quickly as
possible.
