A California commuter’s routine trip to work took a startling turn when he came across two large rattlesnakes locked in a dramatic confrontation in the middle of a Thousand Oaks street.
Anthony Damore said he was heading out around 10 a.m. Monday when he noticed the venomous snakes coiled together on the pavement near a storm drain, rising up and twisting around each other in a tense display.
Footage of the unusual roadside encounter shows the rattlesnakes lifting their bodies and wrestling along the edge of the street as cars and residents kept their distance.
“It was two large rattlesnakes in some kind of show of power,” Damore said, noting that people familiar with the behavior later suggested it was likely a combat dance between two competing males.
“I’ve never seen a rattlesnake do this, or pair of them doing this,” Damore added.
The alarming sighting comes amid increased rattlesnake activity across California this year, raising fresh concern for residents encountering the reptiles in neighborhoods, yards and hiking areas.
Earlier this week, Santa Clarita Valley resident Linda Martin was bitten on the foot while working barefoot near her rose bushes after accidentally disturbing a rattlesnake concealed beneath the plants.
“I went and lifted the bush, and that’s when I saw the rattler,” Martin told CBS News.
Within moments, she said the venom was already taking effect.
“Within 30 to 45 seconds, I started feeling tingling in my fingertips,” Martin said. “It moved into my jaw, my cheeks, my tongue.”
Martin’s 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.
“Dialed a second time, it didn’t even connect,” she said. “Dialed a third time, and my husband just said, ‘Get in the car.’”
“Had my husband not been home, and I was here alone, I don’t know what would have happened,” Martin added.
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.
