Heading to the Yellowstone River? Why You Need to Keep One Eye on the Billings Banks

Picture this: bare feet on warm river rock, the Yellowstone running cold and green in front of you, a fishing pole in your kid's hand, and absolutely nowhere else you need to be. That was one of our weekends recently. My husband, son, and I loaded up and drove out to the river for a full day of doing exactly nothing important. We caught fish. We lost more than we caught. We ate sandwiches that got a little muddy and didn't care. If you haven't taken your family down to the Yellowstone River in a while, maybe add it to your list.

Something Else Lives Along That Riverbank, and It Is Worth Knowing About

As we were picking our way along the riverbank looking for a better fishing spot, my son stopped cold and pointed at a flat rock a few feet off the trail. Nothing was there, but it got us talking. Prairie rattlesnakes are native to this part of Montana, and the Yellowstone River corridor is exactly the landscape they are built for. Dry grassland, sandstone rims, rocky coulees, brushy shoreline, sun-warmed boulders. If you're out there enjoying it, so are they.

Where You Are Most Likely to Cross Paths With One

You are not going to look out at the middle of the Yellowstone River and see a rattlesnake swimming past your bobber. That is not really their thing. What they do love is a warm flat rock on the shoreline, a pile of sun-dried driftwood, or a slow, shallow eddy where the bank gets brushy and overgrown. The Rims above town are prime territory too; those sandstone formations heat up fast and hold warmth long after the sun moves. Anywhere you are stepping off a clear trail and into tall grass or reaching around rocks you cannot fully see, that is when you want to slow down and look first.

They Are Not Out to Get You, but They Will Protect Themselves

Here is the thing about prairie rattlesnakes that most people don't realize: they genuinely want nothing to do with you. They will feel your footsteps coming from a distance and move before you ever see them. The encounters that go sideways almost always involve someone who startled one at close range or accidentally cornered it. So stick to clear open paths when you can. Watch where you put your hands and feet. If you spot one, back up slowly and give it room to go wherever it was headed. It will.

If Your Dog Is Coming Along, Keep Them Right Next to You

Dogs are enthusiastic in exactly the wrong way around rattlesnakes. A nose pushed into tall grass or under a piece of driftwood is how a great afternoon turns into an emergency vet visit. If you are walking a dog along the river or on trails like Riverfront Park, keep them leashed and within arm's reach. They cannot read the landscape the way you can. And if a bite does happen, to a person or a pet, skip everything else and get to emergency care immediately.

Go Anyway, Just Go With Your Eyes Open

Knowing rattlesnakes share the Yellowstone corridor with us doesn't make the river any less worth visiting. It makes you a little more present out there, which is not the worst thing. You watch the bank a little more carefully. You notice the landscape instead of just walking through it. My son is already asking when we can go back, and so are my husband and I. That says everything.

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Get out there this summer, watch where you step, and go find your own muddy sandwich moment on the Yellowstone River. For more on living alongside Montana wildlife, visit Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at fwp.mt.gov.