BABY SNAKE HAZARD ARRIVING EARLY NEWLY BORN RATTLERS LACK VENOM CONTROL, POSE GREATER RISK.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Baby rattlesnakes - deadlier than their full-grown counterparts - are out in large numbers this year, earlier than usual.

``We've seen a lot more babies this year,'' said Mark Vincent, a supervisor at Ed Davis Park at Towsley Canyon. ``They're coming out earlier than normal.''

Capable of biting from birth, the inexperienced younger rattlesnakes cannot control the amount of venom they release into their victims, and that can prove deadly.

And unlike other snakes, babies have a tendency to attack unprovoked and then cling to their targets until they are physically removed.

``It will attach on until you remove them,'' Vincent said. ``They'll release all the venom they have.''

In the past two months, three people have brought young rattlers to the Placerita Nature Center in Newhall after finding them in their back yards.

``We're seeing a lot of snakes all over the valley,'' said Darrell Wanner, park supervisor at Placerita. ``Like the young of anything, they are the most inexperienced in the world.''

Wanner attributed the increase in the baby rattlesnake population to an increase in the rat population.

``If there is a good water and food supply, more babies will likely happen,'' Wanner said.

An adult full-size female rattlesnake can deliver up to nine snakes at a time, Wanner said. Rattlesnakes keep their eggs inside the body and deliver live.

Though snakes are being seen throughout the valley, local hospital officials said that they have only had one patient admitted to the hospital for a snake bite in the past two weeks.

Rattlesnakes seen locally include the Southern Pacific rattlesnake and the Mojave, or green, rattlesnake. The Southern Pacific is the most prevalent in Southern California.

Growing up to 5 feet long, rattlesnakes - known for the shaking noise of their tails - emerge from hibernation in the early spring. Younger rattlesnakes have a button on the tail that does not sound.

Rattlesnakes have a very broad, triangular head, narrowing to a small neck that leads to a dark brown or black body covered with a row of black diamond shapes on the back.

Though snakes flourish during the summer months coming out to bask in the warm day sun and retreating to the dens at night, park officials say snakes are fairly mellow creatures and will not bite anyone unless they feel threatened.

Before a bite, an adult snake will usually warn its victim by coiling and sounding its rattle.

Experts estimate that 90 percent of all snake bites can be prevented if people took precautions when crossing their habitat.

Wanner advised people to watch where they place their hands and feet, to prevent accidentally stepping on or near a snake and to avoid putting their hands in vulnerable spots. He suggests moving slowly away if you encounter a snake.

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2 photos

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Placerita Canyon Nature Center park supervisor Darrell Wanner holds Hillary, a two-foot rattlesnake found as a baby five years ago, above. Below, Hillary's triangular head and diamondback scale pattern are typical rattler characteristics.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer