All bets are off when it comes to rattlers around kids or pets. I was specifically talking about snakes found while away from home.
Most rattlers can't kill a healthy grown person. A lot of places I go have the Mojave Green Rattler. Except for the Mojave Green, all rattlesnakes have Hemotoxinous Venom, meaning that the poison destroys every red blood cell it comes in contact with. The Mojave Green has both Hemotoxinous and Neurotoxinous Venom. Kids, pets, and people in poor health may be killed with one good bite. While the hemotoxinous venom destroys the blood cells, the neurotoxinous venom depresses the CNS (Central Nervous System), and you die from asphyxiation because the muscles that cause your lungs to draw in and expel air are deadened.
Mike