Third Person Dies Of Snake Bite This Year In CA: Report

REDWOOD VALLEY, CA — A Northern California woman recently died of a snake bite, SFGate reported Monday, marking the third such fatality this year in the Golden State.

The 78-year-old woman from Redwood Valley was walking on April 8 in a rural area where she was bitten three times before being taken to a hospital and later dying, the outlet reported, adding that the species of the snake is unknown.

This latest bite comes after a 46-year-old woman was bitten on March 14 in Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks and died five days later, the Thousand Oaks Acorn reported at the time.

In Orange County, a 25-year-old man was bitten Feb. 1 while mountain biking with his father at Quail Hill Trailhead in Irvine and lived for several weeks after the incident but eventually died, according to a GoFundMe page seeking donations for medical and memorial expenses.

Thousands of people are bitten by venomous snakes in the U.S. each year, but only about five die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To avoid a snake bite, people should stay on trails and away from dense thick brush, wear loose pants and substantial boots, keep dogs on a leash, and check under rocks, stumps or logs before sitting on them, as those are common places for rattlesnakes to hide, Cort Klopping, an information officer with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, previously told Patch.

If a person is bitten, they should stay calm but act quickly by going to the nearest medical facility immediately, he said. People should not cut a rattlesnake bite wound, try to suck out the venom, or apply ice or a tourniquet.