WOMAN ESCAPES SNAKES IN PARK.

Byline: Troy Anderson Daily News Staff Writer

Lisa Herron was considering renaming her dog Lucky after they jogged into a ravine of rattlesnakes Tuesday at Brand Park and fortunately escaped.

One of three rattlesnakes they startled by jumping into a washed out ravine along a trail in the park rose up and bit her dog Bubba's collar, wrapping itself around the 120-pound Rottweiler's left leg, Herron said.

``I kicked the snake off him and drug him up the hill,'' she said. ``There was a snake above us and two below us and we couldn't go anywhere.''

Using her cellular telephone, she called her best friend at the Arden Animal Hospital, who summoned authorities during a three-way conference call. Glendale park maintenance workers and fire personnel rescued Herron from the den of snakes. Herron and her dog were not injured.

``There is no sign of a bite anywhere,'' the 39-year-old Glendale woman said. ``It was the Lord watching out for us. We walked through the den of snakes and didn't get bit. It's pretty much a miracle.''

The attack on Herron's dog was one of six encounters people had with rattlesnakes Tuesday in Glendale, said Mike Peatrowsky, director of the Glendale Humane Society.

``This should be a big year for rattlesnakes because of El Nino,'' said Russ Hauck, a Glendale park ranger, explaining that heavy rains last year produced a lot of plants for the small animals that snakes feed on, resulting in a snake population boom this year in Glendale and throughout the county.

People encountered rattlesnakes in Glendale 91 times in 1998, compared with 80 times in 1997. On Tuesday alone, Glendale residents encountered as many rattlesnakes as in the whole month of April 1998, Peatrowsky said. He wasn't aware of anyone bitten in Glendale since several years ago when a rattlesnake attacked a child.

Kent Beaman, a herpetologist at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, said rattlesnakes are coming out of hibernation as the thermometer rises.

To avoid snake encounters, he suggested people keep aware of their surroundings while hiking, avoid rock outcrops, look before stepping into blind areas and remain still if the snake's rattle is heard, leaving once the snake's location is determined.

When the snakes - ranging from 3 to 5 feet in length - were surrounding her Tuesday, Herron said she couldn't believe how loud the rattles were. Moving to the most distant location from the snakes, Herron called her friend Andrea Luna, a veterinarian assistant at the Arden Animal Hospital.

Luna called Glendale police, who told her to call animal control. But when she called, the number was busy. She kept calling until an operator - placing an emergency call for her - told her the phone was off the hook. Frustrated, she called the Glendale Fire Department, who sent people to rescue Herron.

By the time park maintenance workers Juan Morales and Rene Merino and fire personnel reached Herron, the snakes had left.

At the Arden Animal Hospital, the veterinarian could not find a snake bite on the dog, although his fur was covered with venom, Herron said.

``He's pretty darn lucky,'' said Herron, who said she was considering renaming him Lucky. ``That's his second brush with death.''

When the dog was 9 months old, Herron said she rescued him from the pound. Bubba nearly died from a respiratory infection.

``My friend nursed him back to health and he lived,'' she said. ``They should have named him Lucky then. They said he shouldn't have lived.''

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Photo: Lisa Herron prepares to load her dog, Bubba, into her truck after being rescued Tuesday from a trio of snakes in a Glendale park.

John Lazar/Daily News