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more tips:
1. buy/rent a personal locator beacon before you go off grid
2. Take flashlights/headlamps and extra batteries. Download a compass app onto your cellphone or take a handheld
3. watch for unmarked mine shafts. It’s not unheard of for atvs to drive into them or kids to fall. You don’t want to fall into a mine shaft.
4. Wear long pants and loosefitting clothes. The wind will deydrate you as fast as the sun.
5. Clear your perimeter before you sit. Look at the ground before you get out of your vehicle and before your approach your vehicle. if you see a roadrunner foraging, he’s probably looking for a tasty rattler - be cautious.
6. Know where you’re going and let others know
7. purchase airlift insurance if you don’t already have that as a policy benefit. Depending on where you are, if you’re snakebit or your chainsaw slips, you’ll be airlifted to Vegas or Riverside and it’s not cheap out of pocket. The first airlift will pay for itself.

8. If you take kids or dogs out to the desert, they’re going to want to chase lizards. Don’t let them - that lizard may run under a bush where a rattler is napping. The landscape may look empty but it comes to life at the most unexpected moments. Kids need to know that the desert isn’t a city park, it’s a very dangerous and unforgiving place to be and that’s what makes it so special. Be aware that kids and dogs can dehydrate faster than adults and it’s more serious. Dogs will also be tempted to ‘play’ by coyotes who will kill them - keep them on a leash and inside at night. You do not want to be chasing a dog across terrain.

9. Rattler safety. Know your snakes so you can tell first responders what kind of snake bit you. Don’t assume rattlers will know you’re coming and move out of your way - some are not so inclined.

First, a ‘friendly’ snake: the Desert Rosy Boa
(slim head, striped, the slowest moving snake in the US I think) eats rats, mice, baby rabbits and best of all, baby gophers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be6wlTPKWhw

Here are the devils of the desert and why you want to stay on roads. Stay off game trails where snakes hang out.

Mohave green rattler - This is a shorter snake, about 3 foot. It can get into just about any crack and crevice. (Hint: use a rake to pull wood off your woodpile). Typical rattler habitat of Joshua trees, sage, creosote bushes. I’ve seen one out in the open at dusk, near a gas station in Apple Valley. Like ALL rattlers, doesn’t always warn first.

video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js6msOFNp9U&t=11s
photo:
https://www.nps.gov/para/learn/nature/mojave-green-rattlesnake.htm

Speckled Rattler:
https://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/BIG/259651.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Crotalus_mitchelli_(Marshal_Hedin).jpg

Panamint Rattler:
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.stephensi.html

Red Diamond back - black and white “racoon” tail - had one of these in my front pasture last summer and two on my front steps in 10 years. Rattlers will strike grazing livestock on the nose and face as well as the legs. Rubber or stiff aquarium tubing can keep their noses open if they’re struck in the face (talk to your vet):

video:
notice how little of the body is left on the ground in strikestance as this red prepares to launch itself forward (also notice how it blends right into the landscape while it’s coiled and resting):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRW1-q1SU5U
photo:
http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/pages/c.ruber.html

An old prospector’s tale says a rattler will probably miss the first person that walks by but will strike the second. Don’t bet your life on it. Prospectors weren’t that smart to begin with. Here’s a whole lot of good tips:

https://patch.com/california/banning-beaumont/beaumont-be-rattlesnake-safe

10. desert homesteaders might find these links useful:

https://www.coyotehunting101.com/coyote-hunting-california/
https://www.ehuntr.com/coyote-hunting-californias-year-round-secret/