Ventura County firefighters receive numerous calls about snakes this time of year.
“We share the real estate with those snakes,” said Fire Captain Robert Welsbie.
Snakes start to come out more frequently as the weather warms up from March through October.
Welsbie said that while about half the calls his fire station in Oak Park receives are for rattlesnakes, residents should not be afraid.
“Rattlesnakes don’t want to have anything to do with us, just as much as we don’t want to have anything to do with them,” he said.
He believes "altering your path is the best way to avoid them. You give them an opportunity to leave.”
Call the fire department to get the snake removed, Welsbie says, and as a precaution, wear closed-toe shoes.
Other advice includes pokeing around with a long-handled tool when gardening, and removing items in your yard that could be hiding spots for snakes.