Snakes now part of the array of wildlife calling Tahoe home

Snakes. Add them to the list of animals to be on the lookout for in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Last summer the Tahoe Rim Trail Association sent out an alert via social media warning people rattlesnakes had been sighted by multiple hikers.

“Several people had seen them around the Richardson Lake area and near Tahoe Meadows as well,” Colleen Hoffman, TRTA engagement manager, said.

Richardson Lake is on the north side of Desolation Wilderness when coming from Ward Creek or Barker Pass.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association in summer 2025 received several reports of rattlesnake sightings. (Image: TRTA)

“I think the misconception is people don’t believe they live here,” Hoffman said. “They do live here. They love rocks and that environment seems to help them thrive.”

But they haven’t always been here.

The U.S. Forest Service’s “Lake Tahoe Watershed Assessment” published in March 2000 says the western rattlesnake “could find suitable habitat at low elevations in the basin but apparently have never occurred in the basin.”

That report went on to say, “Their absence is likely the result of the inability to disperse across the high elevation terrain that surrounds the basin.”

Clearly, things have changed in the last quarter century.

“Some believe as climate change occurs that rattlesnakes could expand their range to higher elevations,” Peter Tira, spokesperson with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said.

Mark Enders, wildlife biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, agrees. He believes it’s likely several reptile species will be spending longer spans of time in Tahoe as temperatures and the number of warm days increase.

An abundance of snakes surround the basin—including the West Slope of El Dorado County and the Carson Valley.

Enders speculates in the future it will be more common for rattlesnakes to make their way to the basin from the east because the terrain involved in getting to Tahoe will be easier to navigate.

The TRTA offers this advice for being safe while hiking knowing snakes are out there:

• Stay on designated trails where visibility is higher.⁠
• Watch where you step or place your hands—especially near rocks, logs, or tall grass.⁠
• Keep pets leashed and close to you.⁠
• Give rattlesnakes plenty of space if you see one—do not try to move or disturb them.
• If you hear the rattle, stop, locate the snake, and back away slowly.⁠

The first documented sighting of a rattlesnake in the basin came in 2015 when El Dorado Animal Control Services received a call of a coiled up rattler under a deck in the Bijou neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe.

“The only other snake call we went on was someone’s pet—a ball python. Someone had captured it,” Joe Avalos, shelter supervisor, said.

Gopher and garter snakes also call Tahoe home, Avalos said.

Tahoe also has three species of garter snakes: western aquatic, common garter snake, and western terrestrial garden snake. They are black with a yellow stripe running done their back.

“The only other snake you might see is the northern rubber boa. They are very docile,” Enders said. “They come out early in the season. You might see them in spring on top of the snow.”

However, they are usually nocturnal creatures who use their strength to constrict prey. These boas can live up to 50 years in the wild.

Reptiles hibernate in winter to stay warm because their metabolic systems aren’t robust enough to handle the cold. Once it’s about 60 degrees out snakes make themselves scarce. Rattlesnakes create dens, where dozens could be huddled together out of sight and below ground.

Neither California nor Nevada has much data about snakes in the basin because they are hard to locate.

“You can pass by the same trail doing a reptile survey and it might make 100 passes to rely on the data,” Enders explained.

While most adults can survive a rattlesnake bite, they are often fatal for dogs.

“Rattlesnakes get a bad rap because they are venomous. They don’t pose a threat generally speaking,” Enders said. “They want to live and let live. They have lot of other things they want to do instead of being a threat.”

This includes keeping the rodent population down.

“If you remove predators, things get out of balance,” Enders said. That’s why there is no plan remove any snake from the wild.

Note: This story first appeared in Tahoe In Depth.