Rattlesnake Bite Kills Woman on Popular California Trail

Hikers in a popular park in southern California's Ventura County are being warned to be on alert after a local woman died following a rattlesnake bite, KTLA reports. Authorities say 46-year-old Gabriela Bautista of Moorpark was hiking at Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks around midday on March 14 when she was bitten. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital but died five days later from rattlesnake venom toxicity, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner.

Ventura County fire officials say the area has seen an unusual spike in rattlesnake activity: four reported bites since March 14, compared to nine in all of last year. "With the warm forecast over the next couple of weeks, I think they're going to be pretty active," one expert says. Bautista's bite was the first of two in the area in a week, the Ventura County Star reports: A teenage cyclist who fell off her bike and was bitten March 20 survived after receiving antivenom, the Thousand Oaks Acorn reports. A 25-year-old man in Orange County died earlier this month after a February bite. Wildlife experts urge people to give snakes space on trails. The CDC reports that 7,000-8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes annually; around five die.