The Mendocino County case is California’s third fatal snakebite reported this year.
UKIAH, Calif. — A 78-year-old Redwood Valley woman died April 10 after three venomous snake bites during an April 8 walk on rural property in Mendocino County, authorities said, making her the third person to die from a snakebite in California this year.
The death has drawn statewide attention because fatal snakebites are rare, even in a state where rattlesnakes are common in rural areas, parks and trails. The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said a coroner’s investigation and postmortem exam found the bites caused a severe medical reaction. Officials have not released the woman’s name, have not confirmed the species of snake and have not said whether the animal was seen or recovered after the incident.
The woman was bitten April 8 in a rural part of Redwood Valley, an unincorporated community north of Ukiah where homes, vineyards, open land and wooded areas meet. Family members took her to a hospital in Ukiah, where she was treated for the bites, the sheriff’s office said. Her condition worsened over the next two days. The sheriff’s office said it was notified by the hospital at about 11 a.m. April 10 that the woman had died from a suspected snakebite. A doctor pronounced her dead at about 9:30 a.m. that day. The agency later said a forensic pathologist reviewed the case as part of the coroner’s investigation.
The postmortem exam was carried out April 15, according to the sheriff’s office. The preliminary cause of death was listed as disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and snake envenomation from snake bites. The condition involves a serious problem with blood clotting and bleeding. The death was ruled accidental by the sheriff’s chief deputy coroner and the pathologist, officials said. Investigators said the woman appeared to have been bitten three times by a venomous snake, but they did not say where on her body she was bitten. They also did not say whether she was walking on private land, a roadway or a trail when the bites occurred.
California wildlife officials say rattlesnakes are found across the state in rural and urban settings, including riverbanks, parks, golf courses, yards, brushy areas and wood piles. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says rattlesnakes usually avoid people and retreat if they have room to move, but a startled rattlesnake may strike without rattling. The department lists seven rattlesnake species in California. The western rattlesnake is the most widespread, and its Northern Pacific subspecies is found through Central and coastal Northern California. Most rattlesnake bites in California occur between April and October, when snakes and people are most active outdoors.
The Mendocino County death followed two other fatal snakebite cases in Southern California this year. Julian Enrique Hernandez, 25, of Costa Mesa, died March 4 after he was bitten by a rattlesnake while mountain biking near the Quail Hill Trailhead in Irvine on Feb. 1. Gabriela Bautista, 46, of Moorpark, died March 19 after she was bitten March 14 while hiking at Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks. Ventura County officials listed Bautista’s cause of death as rattlesnake venom toxicity. Together, the three deaths have made 2026 an unusual year for snakebite fatalities in California before the height of the warm-weather season.
State and medical officials have also described an active start to rattlesnake season. The California Poison Control System receives hundreds of rattlesnake exposure calls in a typical year, with calls most common during warmer months. Recent reporting from state and medical officials has pointed to dozens of bite calls in the first three months of 2026. Nationally, venomous snakebite deaths remain uncommon. Federal workplace-safety figures show that 7,000 to 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes each year in the United States, and about five die. Those figures make the three California deaths stand out, though officials have not tied the Mendocino County case to any single weather pattern or statewide cause.
The sheriff’s office has not announced a criminal investigation, and the coroner’s ruling classified the death as accidental. No hearing, enforcement action or public briefing has been scheduled in the case. The remaining unknowns include the woman’s identity, the exact location of the bites, the type of snake and whether any additional medical findings will be released after the preliminary coroner review. The case now stands as a completed death investigation unless officials issue more information or the family chooses to identify the woman publicly.
In Redwood Valley, the death has put a quiet rural community into a broader state story about snake encounters. The woman’s walk began as an ordinary outing on April 8 and ended with an emergency trip to a Ukiah hospital. Wildlife officials have said rattlesnakes are part of California’s natural landscape, and poison-control officials say their bites can become severe within minutes or hours. The sheriff’s office said the woman was treated after the bites, but her health continued to decline before her death.
As of Sunday, officials had not released the woman’s name or the snake species. The next milestone would be any updated statement from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office or coroner’s officials if final findings differ from the preliminary ruling.
Author note: Last updated April 26, 2026.