Central ,southern Oregon - Snakes? (Portland, Eugene: houses, construction, elementary school)

[KarlaT2]

I know this is a weird question, but are there rattlesnakes in the central southern area of Oregon? Medford, Grants Pass, Roseburg, maybe up to Eugene?
Seems everywhere dry has them so was wondering about that. I love to hike, and never had that issue growing up in Molalla/Canby area of Oregon, but am curious about the dryer southern areas.

[davefr]

Yes, that area is a rattlesnake corridor.

Amphibians and Reptiles of Oregon

Get these:

http://www.snakeboots.com/

[Smiled]

Ticks too. And poison oak. Interestingly, I'm told there are rattlesnakes in the Coast Range in NW Oregon; I've never seen one, though.

[KarlaT2]

Oh, mannnnnnnn. I was afraid of that. I don't mind snakes, but I hate poisonous ones.

[TomMcCall]

Originally Posted by KarlaT2

Oh, mannnnnnnn. I was afraid of that. I don't mind snakes, but I hate poisonous ones.

I never had a problem with rattlesnakes anywhere in Oregon. I am not saying I have not seen any, just that I have not had any problems with them. A couple of things to remember: Stay loud, mostly by stomping you feet, kicking little(!) rocks(too big and there might be one under it) on the trail (this will cause them to rattle if they are near), and always remember that they are cold blooded: they are out in the open when the sun is out and hiding when it gets too hot. They like rocks at night because they hold heat. But mostly, they have a rattler there for the sole purpose of WARNING you! How nice of them They don't want to bite you anymore than you want to be bitten. The only time I was ever 'attacked' was by a baby rattler who bit the tire of my three-wheeler in Christmas Valley. It was kinda funny though. The reality was I snuck up on him and that was that.

Also, if you are really tearing up the trail, you might want to consider a good set of knee-hi-boots or gaiters designed for snakes.

Good luck
~TM

[ambo72]

I have lived outside of Portland most of my life and hiked through some pretty remote areas off the beaten path. I have never ever seen anything more than a garden snake in this part of the state.

I have seen several rattlesnakes in the area around Bend, but they seemed pretty uninterested in humans and just slithered right on past.

My fear is that I will come across one on my dirt bike, startle it and myself, and then crash!! The boots are not gonna save my butt if I'm down and the snake is pissed!!

I see those snake boots above are made of 1000 denier Cordura. Maybe I will just make a bubble suit out of that and wear 2 of them while riding!!!!

[bluebird39]

Great link davefr! Thanks.

I worked in the woods in Southern Oregon for 4 years (Jackson and Klamath CO), and came across rattle snakes 4-5 times. They're there, but not super common... more common the further East you go. I did wear high boots, but never had one attack me. As mentioned, they tend to use that rattle of theirs (which pretty much makes you pee in your pants when you hear it LOL), although I almost stepped right on top of one in the early Spring one time when it was cold and no rattle. I used to carry a snake kit, but after a year or 2, gave that up. I worked LONG before cell phones, GPS, or even cheap radios. Now it's so much easier to be out in the woods! You just got to be observant. Just like most critters, you usually just see their tail end running away from you!

[Fiddlehead]

My wife trail runs all around the Ashland area, and she never sees them. That is not to say, they are not around, just that they are not common. Cougars, on the other hand, seem to be all around, though attacks are very rare.

[duckduckgoose51]

I grew up in southern oregon and have several stories about rattlesnakes.

I worked at a Golf Course in Grants Pass, and found 1 rattle snake that had been killed in a dried up irrigation ditch. It looked to be attacked by a bird, and dropped off into the ditch.

I also cut underbrush in the mountains between Klamath Falls and Ashland and found another one laying out on a rock. It was very lethargic, and didnt move hardly. We were going to kill it, but decided to let it live. One of the guys I was working with, put it in a cooler and we drove it about 5 miles away so we didnt have to worry about it being in our area anymore.

Glendale Oregon is a hot spot for Rattlers. There is a park out of town called Rattlesnake Creek park and ironically it is loaded with rattlers. Several times I read in the paper about people getting bit around there. I have friends that live there and they took me snake hunting right before dusk. We didnt find any living snakes, but we did find 6 dead rattlers draped over the bridge about 4 miles past the park.

The last time I found a rattlesnake was near my elementary school in Grants Pass. It was off of Highland Avenue in a small field area. I was weedeating the field for a property management company while I was in college and I found a small baby rattler with only one rattle on its tail. I ended up killing it with a shovel since the elementary school, and several hundred houses were near. Obviously, if there was a baby, there were more of them. I didnt finish weed eating and actually never went back to that property.

My dad works on generators for Qwest and he is often in the mountains around southern oregon. He killed a 3 1/2 foot timber rattler on the door step to one of his generator rooms. It had coild and actually struck the shovel.

I have been told that Southern Oregon (Roseburg to Ashland) has a decent population of snakes. The mountains around the I-5 cooridor are supposed to be home to most of them because of their relatively lower elevation, lack of population and construction, hotter temperatures in the summer, and mild winters. The lower Rogue River has a large population because of the conditions I just listed. From Klamath Falls East, they are more populated due to the heat and dryer climate.


I wouldnt worry about rattle snakes in southern oregon. I have spent most of my life playing in the woods, hiking, etc. and I have only seen a few. In fact, I have only heard of a couple other instances of people even seeing them. The newspapers do a good job of writing about a snake attack if it occurs and I hadnt seen any for a long long time.

Good luck and "high-knee" if you hear one rattle.

[FVWinters]

Saw one rattlesnake along the Rouge River near Illahe but that was the only one I ever saw west of the Cascades. I suspect there are dens scattered about in southwestern Oregon but they are few and far between.