Joaquin Joao Chidja, 16, managed to salvage prized possessions: family photos. Survivors are not only dealing with immediate needs of food, shelter and healthcare. She spoke at Beira port just after disembarking from a boat from Buzi where many people had by the weekend started picking up pieces of their lives as the waters receded and the sun came out. Now she has to check if her husband, left behind in Beira, is safe. Seek medical or veterinary attention as soon as possible.Jose lives in Beira, which was also smashed by Idai, but had gone to Buzi to visit her mother. If you or a pet are bitten do not attempt things like tourniquet or attempt to remove the venom by any method. “If you have one in your yard you can contact a snake removal service that will find it a new home. Do not try to move the snake,” Flowers said. “If you see one on a path, walk around and leave alone and warn others around you. They may also be hiding under brush, rocks, and branches so it is best to leave these things undisturbed. “When walking in a natural area avoid walking – or walking your dog – in tall grass or places where you cannot see the ground. “Rattlesnakes are generally not aggressive unless provoked and contrary to popular belief they do not always rattle before striking,” he said. Other snakes found in the East Bay Regional Parks Districtįlowers had some tips for those coming in contact with rattlesnakes. “They live all over the area this is their territory, they were here first,” Ricketts said. To minimize contact with humans, he releases the snakes in outlying unincorporated areas where there aren’t trails - usually down hills, as snakes are unlikely to climb back up the hill. Ricketts said his church is all about helping the community, so he doesn’t mind gearing up for the occasional rescue (there’s no charge, though people are welcome to donate). “I’ve started seeing snakes early this year because the warm weather will be a trigger for eggs to hatch,” Ricketts said. He said he’s already getting calls this year. So he bought a snake hook, snake tongs, and a 5-gallon bucket that is dark inside to calm the snakes down (he also got some training from his son, who works at reptile store East Bay Vivarium in Berkeley). Ricketts doesn’t want people to kill any snakes. He started going out as an amateur snake wrangler a few years ago when he saw on social media that people were killing gopher snakes, believing they were rattlers. He’s also been a snake lover since childhood. “This is generally true of all of the species of snake that inhabit our region.”ĭave Ricketts is an associate pastor at the Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church. “Historically for our area, it is generally closer to the last half of April and into May before they become more active, but in our evolving climate here they can, and do, become active during warmer cycles of weather, like what we have been experiencing this week,” Flowers said. Flowers, the wildlife hospital and rehabilitation manager at Walnut Creek’s Lindsay Wildlife Experience, confirmed it’s early for snakes to be so active. It is not aggressive, and only bites if it is threatened or provoked, according to wildlife experts. The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake is the only snake in the Bay Area dangerous to humans. “We’ve seen them before, but never this early,” Keane said. So we turned around and high tailed it out of there.” “We figured we could just jump over it, and then I remembered where there is a baby, there is probably a momma and siblings about. “Mike and I were on the mountain just when he told me to take the lead, I spotted a baby in the trail all curled up,” Keane said. She spotted her first rattlesnake of the season on March 19. And as it gets warmer this year, more snakes will be out, warming their cold reptile blood in the sunshine.Ĭlayton resident Janet Keane and husband Michael regularly hike the northern slopes of Mount Diablo. Climate change and California’s historic drought - which some experts say will be more of a regular thing for the state - are changing how plants and animals do their business. But snakes usually wait until April or May to start showing up regularly. Not all of the photos were taken in far-flung wilderness areas some were in suburban neighborhoods and at least one was near downtown Walnut Creek. Not anymore.īy mid-month, photos of wild snakes - especially rattlesnakes - were showing up on social media pages of both hikers and non-hikers in the Bay Area. March used to be considered a relatively safe month for snake-adverse hikers.
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