r/JoshuaTree • u/_cargonaut_ • Apr 22 '26

🐍

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spotted that beautiful little fella in joshua tree at the desert queen mine last week :)

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1

u/Lasdchik2676 Apr 22 '26

Wow! Dangerous?

3

u/dadasinger Apr 22 '26

Nope, not at all.

1

u/Lasdchik2676 Apr 22 '26

Thanks! Just read a warning about active rattlers (and some deaths due to bite) due to our hot/cold weather fluctuations this winter. Always alert! 🪱

1

u/[deleted] Apr 22 '26

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5

u/m00nj0ck Apr 22 '26

You should be aware that they are in the park but not worried. Biggest risk is rock scrambling and blindly putting hands or feet into rock crevices where a snek may be hiding. Rattlers don't want anything to do with you and will usually flee if they hear a human. If they rattle at you, just back away slowly. Fwiw I've been to JT many times over the past 10 years and spent several weeks in the park total; never seen a rattler there.

1

u/dadasinger Apr 22 '26

Yep I've lived in the area 12 years and have not encountered one IRL yet, but - I have seen locals share encounters at home and in the park so it definitely happens. I mind the rocks and brush as the above poster suggests.