I just dont get it, where are they

[RandyRhoads]

I've been doing a ton of traveling and hiking around California (Oh yeah Arizona too...) the last few months. I covered what seems like every habitat. More mountains than anything, but everywhere I go I enquire about snakes, specifically rattlesnakes. I always get an answer similar to "they're everywhere, a big problem for us". I also ask if they're out now and when the last one was seen. Most of the time they repy with just a few days ago. Yet I still have yet to come across one. I thought for sure after my deer hunting trip covering many, many miles in the rocky outcroppings of the mountains last week, I would have got buzzed at least once, but nothing.

I'm so baffled, where I live during spring and fall they are a daily occurence on the road. How come every time I go to other places there's not a single snake in sight? Do I need to be flipping rocks or digging in fallen trees?