Rising valley temps may bring out unwanted friends

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - As I'm sure you already know, snakes aren't known to follow rules.

"They don't work by calendars," Daniel Marchand said. "People are like, 'well, they're not supposed to be out yet.' Well, they don't know that it's February 14, Valentine's Day."

Daniel is with the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary and he says with the sun shining and increased temps, snakes will be out in the valley.

"Anything over 80 degrees in temperature will bring rattlesnakes out of their hibernation state," he said.

When temps rose last year, Daniel says there were 22 bites in 21 days. But this year, you don't have to be one of them; just watch where you're walking and avoid obvious snake hot spots.

"If you're out hiking around on these trails, stay on the trails," he said. "If you go off to take a little selfie off the trail, you're subject to running into one of these guys, like a rattlesnake, which could be dangerous."

Rattlesnake bites aren't just painful, but they're expensive. Daniel says a bite in Arizona will cost you between $125,000 to $200,000. That's just another reason to be careful out there.