Terrifying moment rattlesnake suddenly attacks woman outside her California home

A rattlesnake’s horrifying bite on a woman’s foot in Los Angeles County was caught on video — and the moment she raced to save her own life.

Santa Clarita Valley resident Linda Martin walked out to tend to her roses with bare legs and no shoes on, leaving her with no protection from the rattlesnake’s strike.

The serpent sunk its fangs into the woman’s toes, and her screams are heard on video. She never heard the snake’s warning rattle.

“I went and lifted the bush, and that’s when I saw the rattler,” Martin told CBS News. Martin then ran back inside.

In seconds, Martin says she was already feeling the venom of the terrifying snake’s bite.

“Within 30 to 45 seconds, I started feeling tingling in my fingertips,” Martin said. “It moved into my jaw, my cheeks, my tongue.”

When she tried to call 911, her cell signal failed. She lives in a small community called Stevenson Ranch near Santa Clarita.

The failed call added to her anxiety. Her second and third calls also failed, leaving her with little choice but to act on her own with her husband’s help.

“Dialed a second time, it didn’t even connect,” she said. “Dialed a third time, and my husband just said, ‘Get in the car.’”

“Had my husband not been home, and I was here alone, I don’t know what would have happened,” Martin added.

The pair raced to the hospital, and she received antivenom after the 10-minute drive.

Martin survived the ordeal. Rattlesnake bite incidents like hers are becoming more and more common in California.

Lee Cantrell, a director at the California Poison Control System, told CBS News the state is outpacing last year in calls about rattlesnake bites.

“Last year, we had a little over 400 calls about rattlesnake bites,” he said. “And so far, in the first six months of 2026, we’ve had 250 calls.”

The state is on track to see 20% more rattlesnake bites this year, he said. Three people have died from bites from venomous snakes in California in 2026 so far.

Cantrell says it could be because the rattlesnakes came out earlier.

“This year, we had kind of a warm early spring, and so that could have fostered rattlesnakes coming out of hibernation earlier,” Cantrell said. 

Martin said the experience taught her to be much more cautious when tending to her prized roses.

“I was laughing. Next time in the garden, I’m going to wear a hazmat suit, because I’m afraid to go,” she said. “But I certainly won’t go gardening without wearing boots.”

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