{"id":396445,"date":"2026-03-21T10:16:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/396445\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T10:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:16:20","slug":"officials-warn-of-increased-snake-sightings-amid-southern-california-heat-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/396445\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials warn of increased snake sightings amid Southern California heat wave"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/egm1ot5oejw6tdxk.jpg\" alt=\"Heat brings emergencies, snakes and outdoor dangers\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\"><strong>ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.<\/strong> &#8211; Record-breaking heat in Southern<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/us\/ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"> California<\/a> is creating unexpected hazards as the region experiences summer-like temperatures during the final week of winter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Local officials are warning residents about increased rattlesnake activity, extreme surface temperatures on pavement and artificial turf, and the rapid onset of heat-related emergencies for people and pets.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">The heat is also marking the start of rattlesnake season, including a recent deadly incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\"><strong>SUGGESTED: <\/strong><a class=\"zReHs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/news\/25-year-old-oc-man-dies-after-rattlesnake-bite\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>25-year-old OC man dies after rattlesnake bite<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Additionally, surfaces like pavement and astroturf can reach temperatures between 125 and 150\u00b0. At 125\u00b0, a dog\u2019s paws can burn in just a few seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Experts and officials are offering advice on how to navigate the heat and the wildlife it brings out, especially for hikers.<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">&#8220;Often times we see those bites occur right near the edge of a trail. So if you&#8217;re out walking, hiking, stay in the middle of the trail, keep those AirPods out so you&#8217;re not distracted and you can hear as well,&#8221; said Capt. Greg Barta with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/us\/ca\/orange-county\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Orange County <\/a>Fire Authority.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\"><strong>SUGGESTED COVERAGE:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What you can do:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Residents are encouraged to take specific precautions during this heatwave:<\/p>\n<ul original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\"><strong>Stay hydrated:<\/strong> Drink plenty of liquids and provide snacks and shade for others.<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\"><strong>Trail safety:<\/strong> When hiking, stay in the center of the path and avoid wearing headphones to remain aware of rattlesnakes.<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\"><strong>The five-second test:<\/strong> To check if the ground is safe for a pet, hold your hand on the pavement for five seconds. If it is too hot for your hand, it is too hot for a dog\u2019s paws.<\/li>\n<li class=\"article-ct\" data-v-03e8ff79=\"\"><strong>Protect paws:<\/strong> Be aware that pavement and astroturf can burn a pup&#8217;s paws in seconds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KTTV\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-f1afc186=\"\">Some heat relief is expected by the weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\"><b data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source:<\/b> This story was written with information from the Orange County Fire Authority.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/us\/ca\/orange-county\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Orange County<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxla.com\/tag\/weather\/severe-weather\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-f1afc186=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Severe Weather<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. &#8211; Record-breaking heat in Southern California is creating unexpected hazards as the region experiences summer-like&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":396446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[273],"tags":[38368,18,19,17,5,1293,133,104777,107,443,461],"class_list":["post-396445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-science","tag-severe-weather","tag-us","tag-weather","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116266649877984794","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=396445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/396445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/396446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=396445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=396445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=396445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}