Vicious rattlesnake goes berserk after youngster spots it in preschool playhouse
As California grapples with what specialists are calling a traditionally unprecedented spike in rattlesnake incidents and fatalities, a quick-thinking preschooler within the Santa Clarita Valley might have helped forestall one other tragedy after recognizing a venomous snake inside a playground construction.
The shut name occurred round 4:30 p.m. Thursday at a preschool within the Saugus neighborhood of Santa Clarita, the place a toddler observed a rattlesnake inside a playhouse and instantly alerted a instructor, native rattlesnake wrangler Cary Quashen advised KTLA.
College employees contacted Quashen, who responded to soundly take away the snake earlier than anybody was injured.
Video shared by Quashen exhibits the rattlesnake coiled close to the play construction as he fastidiously captures it utilizing specialised gear.
“Thank God all of it labored out fantastic,” Quashen wrote in a social media put up accompanying the footage.
Quashen, who operates a rattlesnake elimination service and dog-training program in Santa Clarita, mentioned he was known as in to make sure the world was secure and that no kids had been bitten.
He later relocated the snake away from the college.
No accidents have been reported.
Nevertheless, the incident comes amid an alarming yr for rattlesnake encounters in California.
Through the first three months of 2026, the state recorded 77 rattlesnake-related calls and three confirmed deaths, a dramatic improve over California’s typical annual common of zero to at least one fatality.
Medical administrators and herpetologists with the California Poison Management System have described the 2026 figures as “extremely uncommon and deeply regarding.”
Consultants say the early-year numbers are exceptionally excessive and traditionally unprecedented for the state.
Quashen has change into often called the unofficial “snake wrangler of Santa Clarita” after years of sharing movies documenting rattlesnake removals all through the world.
Anybody who encounters a rattlesnake ought to preserve a secure distance, keep away from any try and deal with the animal, and phone skilled wildlife professionals if elimination is critical.
