25-year-old OC man dies after rattlesnake bite

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6. SoCal man dies after falling on rattlesnake while mountain biking

News | Los Angeles

SoCal man dies after falling on rattlesnake while mountain biking

By Gillian Mohney, News Editor
March 13, 2026

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About 10% to 44% of people who suffer a venomous snake bite will have long-lasting injuries.
MichaelSvoboda/Getty Images

A 25-year-old man has died after being bitten by a rattlesnake while mountain biking on a trail in Irvine. ... Julian Enrique Hernandez of Costa Mesa was mountain biking along the Irvine trail near the Quail Hill trailhead in February when he stopped to wait for another rider and let people pass. As he unclipped from his bike, he reportedly lost his balance and fell in the nearby brush, where a rattlesnake bit him on the leg, according to Irvine police spokesperson Kyle Oldoerp.

Irvine Police responded to the call of a rattlesnake bite on Feb. 1 and Hernandez was transported to a hospital. He died of his injuries weeks later on March 4, and the coroner listed his death as due to “animal bite,” Oldoerp confirmed.

Death due to a venomous snake bite is extraordinarily rare in the U.S., with about five fatal bites reported every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... Oldoerp said a bite like this is “very, very unusual” for the Irvine trail area. ... “We’re trying to look back at the last decade and none of us are aware of any rattlesnake bites in the last 10 years,” he told SFGATE.

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The CDC says there are about 7,000 to 8,000 venomous snake bites in the U.S. every year, a category that includes rattlesnakes, and about 10% to 44% of those affected will have long-term injuries.

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