A California man got quite the surprise during his morning commute when he stumbled on a pair of massive rattlesnakes battling it out in the middle of the street.
Anthony Damore was leaving for work around 10 a.m. Monday when he spotted the venomous reptiles entwined on the asphalt near a storm drain in Thousand Oaks, rearing up and twisting around each other in an eerie display of strength.
Video of the bizarre showdown shows the snakes towering over one another as they grappled on the side of the road.
Video shows two large snakes entwined on asphalt near a storm drain on July 28, 2026. Storyful
“It was two large rattlesnakes in some kind of show of power,” Damore said, adding that others told him the behavior was likely a combat dance between two rival males.
“I’ve never seen a rattlesnake do this, or pair of them doing this,” Damore said.
The unsettling encounter comes as California is seeing a surge in rattlesnake activity this year.
A coiled rattlesnake on sandy ground, with its distinctive diamond pattern visible, looking to the right. Luis – stock.adobe.com
Two large snakes entwined on asphalt near a storm drain. Storyful
Just this week, Santa Clarita Valley resident Linda Martin was bitten on the foot while tending to her rose bushes barefoot after unknowingly disturbing a rattlesnake hidden beneath the plants.
Stevenson Ranch woman bitten by rattlesnake while tending to her garden. Courtesy of Linda Martin
“I went and lifted the bush, and that’s when I saw the rattler,” Martin told CBS News.
Within moments, she said the venom was already taking effect.
“Within 30 to 45 seconds, I started feeling tingling in my fingertips,” Martin said. “It moved into my jaw, my cheeks, my tongue.”
Linda Martin, a woman bitten by a rattlesnake, sitting on a couch in her living room. CBS
Martin’s repeated 911 calls failed to connect, forcing her husband to rush her to the hospital, where she received lifesaving antivenom after a 10-minute drive.
“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.
Officials say California is on pace for roughly 20% more rattlesnake bites this year after an unusually warm spring brought the reptiles out of hibernation earlier than normal.
