MILTON, MASS. (WHDH) - A group of hikers encountered two rattlesnakes wrestling in the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton on Tuesday.
The moment was caught on camera by Erin Noonan, who was hiking with a group when they stumbled upon two timber rattlesnakes fighting on the path.
“Five of us were walking ahead and two were a little behind,” Noonan said.
“Some of the people in the back started yelling, ‘Snakes, snakes,'” said fellow hiker Susan Maloney.
In the video, Noonan can be heard calling out to Maloney to back away from the battling snakes.
“They’re fighting each other, they’re measuring up, they’re trying to see who is stronger,” Noonan said.
Maloney said she has been hiking Blue Hills Reservation her entire life, but has never seen anything quite like this.
“It looked like they were dancing, going across, back and forth across the path, banging their necks,” Maloney said.
It’s not the first time hikers have come across a slithering surprise at the site. In 2021, a woman almost stepped on a 5 foot-long timber rattlesnake on the same trail.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has signage at the start of the trail advising hikers on what to do if they come across a rattlesnake.
“In the moment, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, whoa those are rattlesnakes,’ and then you’re like ‘Okay, we’ve got to be careful, we need to take a step back, I don’t wanna get too close,'” Noonan said.
According to MassWildlife, if you see a timber rattlesnake, you should maintain a safe distance and avoid disturbing it or handling it. Bites would require medical attention, but they are very uncommon.
While timber rattlesnakes have been in the area for more than 100 years, they’ve also seen a massive decline in that time, making them an endangered species.
MassWildlife is asking hikers to report any rattlesnakes they see.
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