Rattlesnake Bite

[The Arapaho Kid]

Here in Western Washington we don't have any poisonous snakes,  The climate doesn't accomodate then very well.  However, over in the Eastern part of the state we have Rattlers.  It's warmer and drier over there.  Over there we also have Bull Snakes, which are the natural enemy of the Rattler.  Tourists and campers are warned of the danger of Rattlers in all the Eastern State campgrounds.

[El Deguello]

(quite about that one may have been a timber and I understand they are protected) CLF 

If the viper wants to be protected it best get out of the way, otherwise.. The tree hugger, love all things nature types  should take a look at the pics in the link provided by Marshal'ette Halloway, that was just a young boy.  The family talked about that event last night.  We're thankful he recovered.     

[The Arapaho Kid]

(quite about that one may have been a timber and I understand they are protected) CLF 

If the viper wants to be protected it best get out of the way, otherwise.. The tree hugger, love all things nature types  should take a look at the pics in the link provided by Marshal'ette Halloway, that was just a young boy.  The family talked about that event last night.  We're thankful he recovered.     

I am against the taking of lives of critters.....UNLESS.....it's an immediate threat and danger to me!  If that situation arises...I have no qualms about sending that sucker to Rattle Snake Boot Hill!

[Advertising]

[El Deguello]

"I am against the taking of lives of critters.....UNLESS...it's an immediate threat and danger to me!  If that situation arises...I have no qualms about sending that sucker to Rattle Snake Boot Hill!"

And that's the way it should be Kid, you're 100% correct.

[jiminy criquet]

He actually came up over the back of the boat by the motor, and was literally coming after us.
Never seen anything like it.

Actually, lots of animals will do that when you shoot them.  I've had it happen to me a few times...once with Javalina.  The other time was a pissed off groundhog.  I suppose they figure if they're going to go out, then they're going to take their antagonist with them.  There have been cases of deer impaling hunters, and marlins impaling fisherman...on purpose.  When hunting you can't always expect the quarry to run away...at some point in time they'll be coming for you.

Non-poisonous snakes in the USA are harmless.  Their bites aren't painful (and if they bite you then it's because you're messing with them) and they eat rodents...which is a good thing.  They certainly don't deserve to be killed outright.  Quite the contrary, they should be welcome around the homestead.
(About the only non-poisonous snake I know of that poses a possible  'threat' to man is the giant anaconda, and since the snake is so big and slow, the hazard is only to the very young, the very old, and/or the very stupid.  And they live in the Amazon.  South America.)

I don't have a fondness for poisonous snakes, but I don't go out of my way to kill them either.  My personal experience is that rattlesnake cooked over an open campfire is quite tasty.  Yup...tastes just like chicken.  Like eating a white meat chicken neck with ribs on it

[dangerranger]

I live just south of where this kid was bit. we have a neibor kid who was bitten this year and is going through the very same prosses as in the pics.very painful and very expencive!!! the snake didnt make a noise till after the strike ! He was at the hospital within an hour and still had a big fight to stay alive! I also subscribe to the " only good snake is the dead ones." Im not much of a snake shooter tho , my favorite weapon is a long handled shovel. one of our dogs was bitten three years ago, We didnt know she was bitten till she started to swell up. by the time we got her to the vet there wasnt anything he could do but wait it out. she survived but still has a nasty scar that runs from the center of her ribs down her belly, about two inches wide and nine inches long. now when theres a snake anywhere around she has a very distinct bark. this year shes spotted five rattlers.[ she does point them from a long distance tho!]

[Col. Riddles]

Yep Triggerlock Midland is 148 miles from Abilene. They have more water there than we do. Cottonmouths are found near water & Copperheads are found in damper climates. We just don't have the water out here in the desert. There's no river & the closest lake is 85 miles away. Consequently the only venomous snakes we have are buzztails. We do have scorpions, black widows and occasional cenetpede.

[Delmonico]

Anybody how says all not poisionous snakes are not dangerous have never delt with a black racer/blacksnake on close confines.  My dad was bitten badly by one when a kid crossing a fence, almost died of infection in the pre-pennicillion days.  I don't bother ones that are not a threat to me. but ones that establish themselves in my territory and are a problem will be shot or be-headed with a hoe.

The garter snakes that live under the rocks in my rose garden here in town are left alone.  My wife and step-daugher don't like them, but they ain't got the guts to do anything but stay out of it.

[St. Louis Kid]

Snake bites are never pretty and the end results can be devestating.  In my younger days when I worked in the worked medical field I saw of number of snake bites.  But even before that as a kid lost a relative to snake bite.  The blasted critter got my cousin in the neck.  He was dead with in the hour, the poison went directly to his brain.  I was taught to carry a gun and to shoot at a very young age, just for that reason.  I have also lost a very loved hunting dog to snake bite.  What most people don't realize is that even non-poisonous snakes can cause sickness and infections that cause permanant damage if not treated quickly.  Even the lowly little garter snake will bite and can cause infections that need medical treatment, my uncle almost lost his hand to a garter snake bite.

St. Louis Kid

[jiminy criquet]

You can cut yourself, get an infection and almost die from cleaning a chicken carcass in the kitchen too.  But that doesn't mean that you should shoot every chicken carcass that you come across.

Non poisonous snakes run (crawl) away from man...generally as fast as possible.  So do most poisonous snakes.  If you got bit by a snake, chances are good that you were doing something that you weren't supposed to be doing, particularly when it comes to non-poisonous snakes...like trying to catch it, or messing with it.  Take a look at 'Venom ER' on Discovery Channel (or whatever channel it's on), and see how many people were 'just bit for no reason'.  Very few.

The bite of a non-poisonous snake is no more prone to infection than any other animal.  The fact is, the common house cat is more likely to give you a bad infection from a bite than a non poisonous snake.  If you get bit by any animal you should immediately take care of the wound, ditto for cuts.  Wash out the wound with soap and put an antibacterial ointment on it and a bandage.  If you don't do those simple things, then you're prone to getting an infection...and possibly dying from it.

If you live in a place that is habitat for poisonous snakes, then you shouldn't be walking around barefoot, or playing in tall grass, or turning over boards...or any of that stuff, without expecting to come into contact with a snake.

Be honest.  People kill snakes because they are afraid of them, period.  It all goes back to that episode in the garden of eden way back when.

[Marshal harpoluke]

 

Last time Ah tangled with a Ratler it crawled in just in time for Brekfast.

heh, Heh, HEH.

[Kaboom Andy]

  Holy Cow.............those are the Baddest pics I've ever seen, probably.................hmmmmmmmmm, period....after this I'm sure that I can kill every snake that "look" at me!!!!!!!!

The best part is we don't have this snakes in Italy............... we have Viper and are poisonous too but it's not easy to find them!!!!

[Delmonico]

Taxanomicaly speaking, if I rember my snakes right, you viper is just a pit viper of another species, similar to the copper head, cotton mouth or rattlesnake.  They are pretty much the same in posion a type that destroys the blood and the tissue suronding the bite.  I think I remember that your viper is about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet long (more or less a meter) that makes them about the size of the prairie rattler of the western half of Nebraska.

[Capt. James H. Callahan]

Don't care much for snakes in general and buzztails in particular. We've got quite a few around here ('bout 150 miles west of Ft. Worth.) Have had a few run-ins with 'em, and it's usually been my experience that the ones around here don't usually rattle 'til they're dang good and mad. Some will, but alot if not most do not.

Onliest thing snake is good for in my book is shotgun fodder!

Sus amigo,
JHC

[Derby Younger]

Well, could be fear. Could be shared collective memory. For me, again - good snake: unseen or moving a way. Dead snake: Heard or moving toward me.

[DR.A.W.FAST]

Being Originaly from the FlintHills I kin remember haven to realy be carefull how you went out on the back porch of the farm house cause rattlers loved to sun themselves on our back stairs to the porch. We had an ole hound that could not help himself from trying to bite rattlers. I think we spent a small fortune gitin him fixed up from bites on his nose. Seems Dogs don't have the coagulary problem that humans have with snake venom. They do swell up and when bitten on they're nose. Sometimes have to have they're nostrels opened till the swellin goes down but they live through it.

P.S. They do taste good though,skinned wrapped in Aluminum foil with salt, pepper and lemon slices baked in a good bed of hot coals!!!

[Old Top]

Fast,

Was that the dog or the snake wraped in foil?   

Old Top

[Marshal'ette Halloway]

Fast,

Was that the dog or the snake wraped in foil?  

Old Top

Dang.. ya' beat me to it Old Top...
That's what I wanted to know..
Soooooo??
Which was it  Dr.Fast? The hound dog or the snake?

[Kaboom Andy]

Taxanomicaly speaking, if I rember my snakes right, you viper is just a pit viper of another species, similar to the copper head, cotton mouth or rattlesnake.  They are pretty much the same in posion a type that destroys the blood and the tissue suronding the bite.  I think I remember that your viper is about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet long (more or less a meter) that makes them about the size of the prairie rattler of the western half of Nebraska.

Hy Delmonico, you remember right ......they can damage you like the rattlesnake but the quantity and poisonuos of the venom it's less so less damage. Some people die here for a bite, but it happen most of the time to old, sick or very young people ........

[Arcey]

From an ABC affiliate, dated today................


PALATKA, Fla. -- A Putnam County fire marshal has died a week after being bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake he shot in a neighbor's yard.

Officials said Putnam County Fire Marshal Joe Guidry, 54, shot the five-foot snake multiple times and thought it was close to death. He reached out to grab the snake, and that's when officials said he was bitten on his right hand.

Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly said Guidry told him in intensive care that he felt the snake's poison tingling in his lips as soon as he stood up after the Oct. 1 bite. Kelly said Guidry's condition worsened by the end of the week despite receiving 18 vials of antivenin.

Guidry died Friday. He had also worked as a firefighter in Clay and Collier counties and an emergency medical technician in St. Johns County.