A 7-year-old boy was airlifted from Mount Diablo State Park to a regional medical facility after being bitten by a snake on a family walking Wednesday, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District said. Multiple television news stations reported that the snake was a rattlesnake.
The boy was on the Bruce Lee Trail, treking through Mitchell Canyon near Clayton, simply after 4 p.m. when he was bitten, Steve Hill, a representative for Contra Costa Fire, informed SFGATE.
Hill said a rescue group reacted to the location and transferred the boy in an ATV to a landing zone in a parking area. A CHP helicopter transferred the boy to the John Muir Health medical center in Walnut Creek, he said.
Mount Diablo State Park authorities said on Facebook in early May that visitors were beginning to see snakes on routes.
“Rattlesnakes are the only venomous snakes here,” the post read. “They only bite if threatened. You can stay safe by watching where you are going and always keeping your hands and feet where you can see them.”
Rattlesnakes live throughout California and are most active in spring and summer season. Peter J. Flowers, wildlife medical facility and rehab supervisor at Walnut Creek’s Lindsay Wildlife Experience, informed SFGATE in March that rattlesnakes were active and being seen abnormally early this year.
“Historically for our area, it is generally closer to the last half of April and into May before they become more active, but in our evolving climate here they can, and do, become active during warmer cycles of weather, like what we have been experiencing this week,” Flowers informed SFGATE. “This is generally true of all of the species of snake that inhabit our region.”
SFGATE editor-at-large Andrew Chamings added to this story.
