This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Seeking Snakes at King Gillette Ranch

Naturalist Trisha Douda shares facts on tracking snakes, why they're useful and how to avoid getting bitten, during an hour-long hike.

Hikers usually want to avoid snakes while out on a trail, but longtime Calabasas resident Trisha Douda seeks them out, utilizing a lifetime of knowledge to track the slithery creatures.

Now volunteering as a naturalist with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, Douda leads educational hikes at local parks in an effort to shed some light on the often feared and misunderstood reptiles. 

“There’s 2,900 species of snake, and it’s impossible to know everything about all of them, so I stick to the Santa Monica Mountains,” Douda said. “I just got involved because I knew these hills so well and was always sharing what I knew anyway.”

Find out what's happening in Calabasaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A distance runner who grew up near King Gillette Ranch, Douda has been studying snakes for nearly three decades, dating back to her childhood when she used to catch snakes and keep them in her room. Noticing that they looked miserable in captivity, she has long since refrained from keeping them as pets and instead enjoys observing them in nature.  

Anyone who wants to learn how to do the same is welcome to join her guided hour-long hikes, which usually begin in the morning when snakes are most likely to be seen during hot summer months.

Find out what's happening in Calabasaswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At 9 a.m. on Saturday at , Thousand Oaks resident Jeff Boberg and his 8-year-old twin sons, Nils and Jeremy, along with fellow MRCA naturalist Arthur Hoyle, made up the group.

“I love snakes,” said Nils.

“The smaller the group, the better the chance of seeing a snake,” Douda said before leading everyone out into the sprawling grass-covered grounds.

It wasn’t long before she pointed to a hole in the field, a possible snake burrow, which the Boberg boys promptly inspected. Pulling some cards from her pack displaying the patterns and characteristics of snakes that may be using this hole, Douda spoke of the local species that call the Santa Monica Mountains home, including gopher, racer, garter, rattlesnake and California king snakes, which possess a quality some would consider an upside.

They eat rattlesnakes, Douda said. Aside from their appetite for their noisy relatives, another feature of king snakes is their docile nature.

“King snakes make the best pets,” Douda said, noting that other snakes are not so friendly, and warned to watch for their colors: “Red next to yellow—nasty fellow.”

Douda’s “coolest, favorite snake,” however, is the rubber boa. While most snakes have tapered tails, the rubber boas have a round knob at the end, which imitates a head and lures unsuspecting predators toward the wrong end of the snake, turning predator into prey. Rubber boas are found mostly around Mt. Pinos and live to the uncharacteristically old age of 40 to 50 years.

Tracking down any snake is possible by following clues, such as shed snake skin as well as snake tracks, both of which were encountered on Saturday. While searching for straight, thin lines in the dirt that signify a snake crossing, the group also came upon tracks of coyotes, possums and birds.   

Continuing up the mountain to a view that included the conspicuous peaks of and Douda’s former home, she  pulled out a measuring tape to indicate the length of many species of snake, including garter snakes, which can grow to a whopping nine-feet-plus. Garter snakes are also known for their mammalian-like characteristic of live births. But even snakes who lay eggs, she said, display maternal instincts.

“Many who wouldn’t think anything tender about a snake would be surprised to see that they wrap around their eggs and keep them warm,” Douda said.

In spite of a general lack of scientific knowledge about snakes, due to the fact that their bones are very fragile, making it difficult for scientists to study their evolution, Douda still thinks that snakes have gotten an undeservedly bad reputation.   

“Snakes have a lot of redeeming qualities with a limited body structure,” Douda said. “They have survived quite beautifully.”

One of their most positive contributions to humankind is their consumption of rodents, which significantly reduces the spread of diseases brought by mice and rats.

Aside from touting the pros, Douda also instructed the group on how to deal with snake bites.

Pointing out areas that are likely to harbor snakes, like wood piles, Douda told how to avoid getting bitten by a snake, such as stepping on a log instead of over it, which could catch a hidden rattler by surprise. In case of a bite, Douda said, the most important thing is to call 911.

The next step is to calm the person, keep their heart rate down and mark the skin with the time every so often in order to track the rate that the venom is spreading through the body. The venom from a rattlesnake eats flesh and muscle, so getting help within what Douda referred to as “the golden hour” is vital.

“Be careful in wintertime because you have rattlesnakes that tend to group together in crevices in rocky areas,” she said.

For the most part, however, snakes are solitary creatures that prefer to be left alone.

“The problem is that the number of snakes is in decline overall. People don’t understand snakes, so across the board, they’re killing all snakes,” Douda said. “Bottom line, your chances of getting bit by a venomous snake are so remote that people are just too scared. Even a rattlesnake doesn’t want to bite you. ... That’s why I do this. I want to educate how snakes help can you.”        

Having moved from Long Beach only a week ago, the Bobergs said they enjoyed the informative hike.

“That’s sort of what we were hoping for—to do a little bit of hiking and to learn more about the area,” Jeff Boberg said.

“Yeah, and I wanna come here again,” added Jeremy.

Programs at King Gillette Ranch are open to people of all ages and are free, although parking is $7. For more information on Douda's guided hikes and other programs, visit LAMountains.com

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?