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Warmer winter means rattlesnake season comes early

LA Dawson
/
Creative Commons

While concerns continue to mount about climate change, and the skimpy winter the High Plains has received this year, there's one group of High Plains residents who are excited about the unseasonably warm weather: rattlesnakes.

KVII notes that the Texas panhandle has seen far more reports of rattlesnakes being killed this year than at this point in previous years. Donley County extension agent Leonard Haynes explains that temperatures have been as high as 98-degrees in the county in the past couple of weeks. Donley County has also had a good number of 80-degree days, ideal temperatures for rattlers leave their dens.

If you’re heading out into the wild this month, wear jeans and tall boots. If you’re bitten, wash the wound and head directly to the nearest clinic or hospital.