Colorado’s wet spring could mean more rattlesnake bites this summer

A relatively wet spring in Colorado could mean a more severe snake-bite season, but at least half of the bites are preventable, one expert said.

Most snake bites in Colorado happen from May to October, after which cold temperatures push rattlesnakes to curl up and reduce their activity, said Dr. Kennon Heard, a professor of medical toxicology and pharmacology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

A 2018 study involving researchers at CU and Stanford University found that relatively wet weather increased the number of snake bites, at least in California. They attributed it to an increase in populations of mice and other small rodents that snakes eat, which don’t do as well in drought conditions.

About half of snake bites in Colorado originate with someone trying to handle a snake, either to move it off a trail or to play with it, Heard said. Other bites aren’t as preventable, but people can reduce the risk by watching where they walk and not reaching somewhere they can’t see, such as under a bush, he said. Snakes don’t look to bite people but strike if they feel threatened.

Rattlesnake venom messes with the body’s systems to create and dissolve clots, causing blood to leak out into the surrounding tissue, Heard said. In the short term, that causes swelling and pain, and without prompt treatment, muscles can die from lack of oxygen and nutrients, he said.

“You’re essentially stepping on the brake and on the gas (for blood-clotting) at the same time,” he said.