I am newish to the area and never given thought to rattlesnakes before except that they’re dangerous. Yesterday I went to South Valley Park to walk my dogs and while they’re on a short leash, they like to explore along the side of the trails while I walk on the trail. Still leashed, of course. While walking two men stopped me and pointed just up the trail where an “aggressive rattlesnake” was and they had even drawn a line in the trail dirt so you’d notice. A little farther in other people told me of a rattlesnake ahead on the trail. There were 2 in the first half mile. I kept the dogs on an even shorter run and kept them on the trail only after the first warning.
What do I need to know about them? What would happen if they bit my dogs or myself? This probably means not letting my kids randomly climb on rock formations in the sun etc too, right? (And obviously that’s only allowed in certain locations and not at South Valley Park)
As I was thinking about going out today I was considering just going to a city park because maybe they’d have less rattlesnakes for my dogs to discover.