Rattlesnakes Show Up at School’s Playground

Children at El Morro Elementary School, which abuts the rugged hills of Crystal Cove State Park, were warned off the playground this week after a number of baby rattlesnakes were spotted in the grass.

Some parents are sure that the grading in preparation for a new development on nearby slopes is driving the snakes to the school grounds, but Principal Joanne Culverhouse and park rangers said the timing was more likely a coincidence.

“Basically it was pretty typical for this area,” said Culverhouse, who said snake sightings have been reported for as long as the school has been open--more than 30 years.

“Any time you have development, no matter where it’s at, you’re going to disrupt the natural community that’s already there,” said Crystal Cove State Park Ranger David Ruger.

“Either you kill them by burying them or, if they’re mobile enough, they get out of the way,” he said. “But that project is still several hundred yards away from the school. I would put it all off to coincidence.”

The snakes can provide both an opportunity for science education and a danger to students.

Rangers said baby rattlesnakes can be more dangerous than adults because they do not have fully developed rattles to alert humans and because they tend to inject all of their venom rather than just part of it.