Perhaps they violated the “three strikes” rule. Perhaps their rattling disturbed the peace.

Perhaps they were just migrating to their summer habitat.

Whatever the reason, three or so unwelcome visitors — rattlesnakes — slithered onto the grounds of the Deer Ridge Correctional Institution last year.

“Snakes and spiders and things are all indigenous to that particular region,” said Parrish Van Wert, spokesman for the prison outside of Madras. “So it’s not too far of a stretch to understand because of where the facility’s located, it’s going to be exposed to a snake now and again.”

So starting this week, to prepare for the summer’s potential reptilian intruders, the prison staff is setting procedures and training officers in what to do when a snake or other unwanted animal enters the prison.

“We know that the likelihood of a snake showing up on the facility grounds is high,” Van Wert said. So … we’re laying out the procedure.”

The prison’s pest control specialist and safety manager will be trained in snake removal, he said.

They have long sticks with pinchers at the end — kind of like the reachers people in wheelchairs might use — to pick up a snake, and a 50-gallon drum to transport the rattler to a safe, faraway location.

Guards and staffers will also get a crash course in identifying snakes and other High Desert dwellers — and what to do if any are spotted on prison grounds.

“Every reptile deserves respect; it could be venomous, it could be agitated,” Van Wert said.

Inmates will be notified of what to do if they spot a snake — primarily getting back and telling a nearby officer, he said.

Still, “you’re going to see a reaction,” Van Wert said.

But he noted that when the snakes appeared last year, no “uncontrolled commotion” occurred on the prison grounds.

“We’re entrusted with the inmate population and our staff,” Van Wert said. “We’re always vigilant about whether there’s a black widow spider or a rattlesnake that might enter the prison.”

As the prison starts watching out for snakes, it’s time for people exploring the great outdoors to pay attention as well.

During the cool months, snakes den up and hibernate, said Otis Powell, senior wildlife specialist with Bend’s High Desert Museum. Central Oregon’s Northern Pacific rattlesnakes actually have one of the longer hibernation periods, he said, from September or early October to April or early May.

This time of year, people start spotting the tan and brown patterned snakes, said Chris Carey, a wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“They come out of hibernation, they’re a little more active, the days aren’t so hot so they’re not having to seek out shade,” Carey said. “You’re more likely to encounter them now.”

During the hot summer months, St. Charles Bend sees about two to four bad snakebite cases a month, said Helenka Marcinek, an emergency room physician at the hospital.

While some bites occur when a climber picks the wrong rock to grab, or a farmer accidently steps in the wrong place, the most common bite victim is an intoxicated adult man, Marcinek said.

The emergency room sees “a disproportionate number of males who get involved with snakes, either handling it as a pet, or who have been drinking a little and they try and interact with a snake,” she said.

The best way to avoid being bitten, wildlife biologists and others said, is simply to avoid the snake. And, if you do see one, leave it alone.

“Just stay aware,” Carey said. “If you’re climbing on rocks, look to see where you’re placing your hands. And if you’re down along the river shoreline, be careful if you’re walking around with bare feet.”

In the early summer, many rattlesnakes tend to hang out in grassy, rocky areas along rivers and tributaries where they’re more likely to find tasty meals like ground squirrels or other rodents, said Rick Demmer, natural resource specialist with the Bureau of Land Management in Prineville.

The snakes tend not to be active if it’s too cool, below 55 degrees or so, he said. Conversely, they’re likely to take cover during the heat of the day.

In general, temperatures and climates keep rattlesnakes to areas below 4,000 feet in elevation, Demmer said, so hikes in the Cascades should be rattler-free. But they’re fairly common along the Lower Deschutes, so floaters or boaters should watch where they put their feet when they’re getting out of a raft, he said.

If a rattlesnake rattles nearby, heed the warning and just back away, Demmer said — don’t antagonize it or try to chase it away.

“More people get bitten trying to kill rattlesnakes than anything else,” he said. “Just don’t mess with them unless you have to.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services agency deals with about a half-dozen rattlesnake complaints every year, said Mike Slater, district supervisor.

“We try to help people as best we can when they have a rattlesnake,” he said. “With rattlesnakes, it’s not necessarily rocket science. It’s just our guys have the guts to deal with them.”

There aren’t many special techniques, he said, except going in with special “snake tongs” to pick rattlers up to either kill or relocate them. However, moving the reptiles to a new home is tricky, he said, because the agency doesn’t want to just move the problem somewhere else.

The one trick wildlife agents have noticed, he said, is that rattlesnakes don’t like particular aerosol air-fresheners.

“Cinnamon Glade is a snake repellent,” Slater said. “It’ll send them skedaddling.”

If you’re bitten by a rattlesnake …

The best way to avoid a snakebite is to simply leave the snake alone, experts say. “The snakes, although they’re not really high on the intelligence factor, don’t really want to bite you unless they have to,” said Zane Horowitz, medical director of the Oregon Poison Center.

But about 50 people get bitten every year in Oregon. A rattlesnake bite is very rarely fatal, but a severe bite could put someone in the hospital for a week.

Horowitz and St. Charles Bend emergency room physician Helenka Marcinek have these tips for those who are bitten:

• Stay calm. Running and increasing your adrenaline can cause the venom to circulate more through the body.

• Back away from the snake so you don’t get bitten again.

• Call for medical help and get to a hospital for anti-venom treatment as soon as possible.

• Keep the bitten area in a neutral position, preferably lower than your heart.

• Take off rings, watches, anklets or other things that could get tight if the bitten area starts to swell.

• Don’t tie up the area in a tourniquet or tight bandage.

• Don’t apply ice to the area.

• Don’t try to cut the area or suck the venom out — the more things people do to the bitten area, the more potential there is for damage to the skin, Marcinek said.