“There were similar signs in the brush on both sides of the path from the parking lot to the Mt. Palomar observatory:
“Beware rattlesnakes. Stay on path.””
The rest area on the interstate between LA and San Diego had those signs.
People were sleeping between the parked cars.
I walked a path at Boiling Springs state park, Woodward, OK with a buddy. We were about 12. His preacher Dad warned us there might be “a snake or two” so we took long handle shovels.
There was a snake every few feet! All kinds too, from harmless to wedgeheads. I remember one huge, stinking moccasin that slithered almost over my feet. We were halfway down the path before it got really bad and ran into a troop of terrified Brownies and their leader.
We escorted them out and killed snakes that were lively and on the path, and they all seemed lively. We must have killed at least a dozen each. What a dam nightmare that was.
Got back and told my buddy’s Dad, ‘Yeah, you were right. Thanks for the heads-up Reverend.’