13-year-old girl hospitalized after being bitten by apparent rattlesnake at Mount Diablo

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- A 13-year-old girl, apparently bitten by a rattlesnake at a campground on Mt. Diablo Saturday night, is now recovering at a hospital.

A birthday was being celebrated at the campsite at the Live Oak campground inside Mt. Diablo State Park. Neighboring campers say they saw a tent pitched and eight people enjoying the warm summer evening. A few took a hike at adjacent Rock City. At sunset there were sirens.

Mukesh Saravanan, 13, says his family was cooking dinner when they saw helicopters, police cars, ambulances and fire engines converge on the campground.

The Parks Superintendent told ABC7 News that the 13-year-old girl was bitten by the snake while on the hike. He said she put her hand on a rock and a snake emerged from a crack and bit her. Her hand started swelling. Emergency responders treated it as a rattlesnake bite and called for her to be life-flighted to John Muir Medical Center. She is still hospitalized but recovering.

Rangers say they've seen more rattlesnakes out and about than usual. They've recently had to relocate a few that were found at trails and campsites. Other rattlers showed up on a front porch in Benicia last week. And another bit a hiker on Mt. Tam last month.

The best advice? Watch where you put your hands and feet while hiking and stay on the trail.