A Ventura County woman has become the second death recently from a rattlesnake bite on a Southern California hiking trail during a snake attack and unseasonably warm weather.
The Ventura County Fire Department has received four reports of rattlesnake bites since March 14, according to department spokesman Andrew Dowd. In comparison, the region recorded a population of nine in 2025.
The department responded to a call of a bite on a hiking trail in Wildwood Park shortly before noon on March 14. Paramedics performed life-saving measures and transported the patient to a local hospital for treatment.
The woman in the attack, identified as Gabriela Bautista, 46, of Moorpark, died March 19 of snake venom, the Ventura County medical examiner’s office told KTLA.
The next day, the county Fire Department rescued a teenage girl on Wendy Trail in Newbury Park after she was bitten by a rattlesnake. Firefighters climbed up to reach the bite victim and used a special wheeled stretcher to take him down and take him to the hospital in stable condition, Dowd said.
The other two recent rattlesnake bites in Ventura County were reported in Thousand Oaks and Meiners Oaks, Dowd said.
On March 4, Julian Hernandez, 25, died at an Orange County hospital from a rattlesnake bite. Hernandez was injured on Feb. 1 while walking on Quail Hill in Irvine.
Rattlesnakes, which are usually more active in the spring and summer, appear to have been released earlier than normal this year as the Southland enjoys its hottest March on record.
The US Forest Service in San Bernardino issued an alert Wednesday advising visitors of recent rattlesnake reports.
“As temperatures rise, rattlesnakes become more active in the forest,” said the department. “Stay alert, watch your step, and keep your pets close.”
Greg Hardesty, a longtime cross country runner in Orange County, told The Times earlier this month that he came across a large snake on March 4, noting that this was earlier in the year than he usually sees snakes on trails.
“When I run on the trails, I always look down because the trails are rocky and you can easily fall,” said Hardesty. “That’s where I saw a big snake that looked like a baseball bat at first.”
Dowd said as an avid hiker he understands the makeup of the hundreds of miles of beautiful trails in Ventura County but noted there are some very important safety tips the department wants everyone to know.
“The first is to wear hiking boots and long pants so that, in the event of an encounter, that may provide some protection from the snake,” he said. “The second is to walk on clearly marked paths where you can see in front of you, to avoid snakes.”
He strongly cautioned against roaming in areas with tall grass where snakes can hide, and said that if hikers encounter a snake, the best thing they can do is to back away and avoid contact.
Then there are the general safety tips hikers should follow at all times of the year: Tell someone where you’re going, carry plenty of water, and make sure you have a charged phone or GPS device, he noted.
In the event of a rattlesnake bite, Dowd reminds hikers to stay calm, call 911, and try to limit movement.
“The general recommendation is to avoid the use of tourniquets, to avoid trying to remove the poison, to contact anyone nearby and know that responders are on the way,” he said.
Despite these two recent deaths, deaths from rattlesnake bites are still rare in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 8,000 people a year are bitten by venomous snakes, with fewer than 10 deaths.
Staff writer Cierra Morgan contributed to this report.
