{"id":22061,"date":"2026-07-30T13:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22061"},"modified":"2026-07-30T13:30:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T08:30:29","slug":"rattlesnake-showdown-as-california-faces-surge-in-activity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=22061","title":{"rendered":"Rattlesnake showdown as California faces surge in activity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2F135924257.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A California man got quite the surprise during his morning commute when he stumbled on a pair of massive rattlesnakes battling it out in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Damore was leaving for work around 10 a.m. Monday when he spotted the venomous reptiles entwined on the asphalt near a storm drain in Thousand Oaks, rearing up and twisting around each other in an eerie display of strength.<\/p>\n<p>Video of the bizarre showdown shows the snakes towering over one another as they grappled on the side of the road.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Video shows two large snakes entwined on asphalt near a storm drain on July 28, 2026. <span class=\"credit\">Storyful<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt was two large rattlesnakes in some kind of show of power,\u201d Damore said, adding that others told him the behavior was likely a combat dance between two rival males.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve never seen a rattlesnake do this, or pair of them doing this,\u201d Damore said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The unsettling encounter comes as California is seeing a surge in rattlesnake activity this year.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>A coiled rattlesnake on sandy ground, with its distinctive diamond pattern visible, looking to the right. <span class=\"credit\">Luis \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Two large snakes entwined on asphalt near a storm drain. <span class=\"credit\">Storyful<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Just this week, Santa Clarita Valley resident Linda Martin was bitten on the foot while tending to her rose bushes barefoot after <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/07\/28\/us-news\/terrifying-moment-rattlesnake-suddenly-attacks-woman-outside-her-california-home\/\">unknowingly disturbing a rattlesnake hidden<\/a> beneath the plants.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Stevenson Ranch woman bitten by rattlesnake while tending to her garden. <span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Linda Martin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI went and lifted the bush, and that\u2019s when I saw the rattler,\u201d Martin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/losangeles\/news\/stevenson-ranch-woman-bitten-by-rattlesnake-while-tending-to-her-garden\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Within moments, she said the venom was already taking effect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWithin 30 to 45 seconds, I started feeling tingling in my fingertips,\u201d Martin said. \u201cIt moved into my jaw, my cheeks, my tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Linda Martin, a woman bitten by a rattlesnake, sitting on a couch in her living room. <span class=\"credit\">CBS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Martin\u2019s repeated 911 calls failed to connect, forcing her husband to rush her to the hospital, where she received lifesaving antivenom after a 10-minute drive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDialed a second time, it didn\u2019t even connect,\u201d she said. \u201cDialed a third time, and my husband just said, \u2018Get in the car.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHad my husband not been home, and I was here alone, I don\u2019t know what would have happened,\u201d Martin added.<\/p>\n<p>Officials say California is on pace for roughly 20% more rattlesnake bites this year after an unusually warm spring brought the reptiles out of hibernation earlier than normal.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" 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Anthony Damore was leaving for work around 10 a.m. Monday when he spotted the venomous reptiles entwined on the asphalt near a storm drain in Thousand&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/135924257.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}