Snake Bites

No bites here.

Probably a good thing too as our snakes are nasty. (Australia)

My Mentor was bitten by a 6+ foot long rattler in S. Georgia in the early 90's... he was fine, we killed the snake. The old man use to say dont look for snakes we aint got that much time, after he was bitten he still never looked for em.

My rod man was bitten in 2004 outside of Thomasville, NC... ole country doc comes in and says, "daaaaayum that was a big snake... you'll be fine." they gave him over the counter Benadryl and sent us on our way.

I dont look for snakes... it is just a matter of time before I am bitten, and I am okay with that.

I have never been bit. My wife has been bit twice, both times by a copperhead.

http://countylifeonline.com/2012/04/16/snakebites-an-east-texas-guide/

James

Nailed once on my left hand by a really ticked-off Boa Constrictor in High School down in the Panama Canal Zone. The Science Teacher had to pry open the mouth to get it to let my hand loose. Scared the bejezus out of me, didn't hurt much, left a few pinpricks of blood on the back of my hand.

Back in the 80's, we had a rod man that thought he was "Mr. Outdoors man". He had the Aussie hat and everything.

We were working in the Everglades off Alligator Alley with water up to our armpits sometimes. Alligators were everywhere, but when we would get close they would "Splash" and take off. I was brave (stupid) back then and that it was cool scaring these big prehistoric lizards. What I didn't like were the Cotton Mouths sunning on top of the saw-grass just above the water. They were everywhere! We would be traversing in the water and someone would yell "SNAKE", then we would re-route.

Well, this Tarzan of a rod-man decided to catch a Cotton Mouth. The idiot used a long stake to pin the snake under the water in the muck. He reached down and came up with it. His hand was wrapped just behind the snakes head. He yelled "I got em!" The snake, covered with muck, squirmed enough to strike him in the back of the hand between his thumb and fore-finger. Tarzan yelled "He got me!" and let it loose.

Things get worse. We are about 60 miles to the nearest hospital and the idiots that transported him put a tourniquet on him by his shoulder which cause the venom to stay in his arm.

In the hospital, they cut him from his thumb to his armpit, zigzagging along the inside of his arm to miss the veins. Then they peeled his skin back so the venom and infection could drain. When he was released, days later, his arm was no longer able to come in contact with the sun. He filed for workman's comp, but was denied because molesting wildlife was not in his job description.

This is a true story, I was there. So make sure your crews know what to do if they are bitten by a venomous snake. The best thing to do is nothing, except get medical attention asap! Many bites are dry and no venom is injected.

I have read that high DC voltage, such as that used in a small stun-gun, is supposed to neutralize the venom when used at the area of the bite. The venom contains copper and is conductive. I purchased a small stun-gun and keep it in my glove compartment, just in case. I figure it can't hurt to try it if I need it, but, that's my decision to make.

dang it boy...

I have been bitten 2x. (Don't let that fool ya... I ain't such a macho man)
1st time was on the finger, copperhead. I was moving a stone, to set a traverse point in a rocky area. Little rascal was about 14-16" long, caught me with ONE fang, through the skin. Juice ran all over my hand.
2nd time, in a soybean field, walking through it, a rattler bit me on the pant leg, about 1/2 way between my knee, and shoe. JUICE all over my pants, and ran down to my shoe.
No damage either time.

Now, my daughter has a bite on her forefinger. Chasing a bullfrog, down a hole, and it got her. (Cotton mouth.)

We did the shocker thing above, and it HELPED alot. We should have done it several times more.
We did not get the electricity to FLOW through the venom, like we should have. That is a key.
We wound up about a week in the hospital, and she wears a scar for life. The shocker thing helped alot, but it MUST cause the current to flow THROUGH the venom.

Now, the best way to kill a snake, is to cut a sapling, 1/4" to 3/4" long, (each end) and smack the snake with the FLEXIBLE limb, and break it's vertebrae. This will immobilize it from striking. They can still bite, but cannot launch themselves, to get you like they can without a broken neck.

Nate

I've worked with a few of those type, had a crew guy literally jump out of the truck as we were slowing down so he could go after a big rat snake. oddly, he was the same guy that nearly fainted at the sight of blood. I always figured the snake thing was a little over-correction. And I've had cotton mouths slide through the grass right between my legs. that'll stop your heart beat for a few seconds. never been bit, and I always give them the right of way.

Yukon and lime juice. Not sure how many. Oh wait, different type of snake bite. None myself and I would prefer to keep it that way. I don't bother them if they don't bother me.

No snake bites here. I'll die anyway because my heart will have stopped.

Rodman nearly fell on one a couple of weeks back. When the snake startled him, he lost his balance and tripped in the weeds. He did that little run-forward-trying-to-get-your-feet-ahead-of-your-body thingee directly at the snake that was doing his best to get away from the Gulliver-like monster coming for him. If had fallen, he would have landed directly on top of the snake. At that point, I would have already died before touching the snake.

Now, what's fun, is to ZIP tie a rubber snake, to a limb, down on the Caddo River, where TEXAS TOURISTS canoe by, and see it sticking out, and the PATH of the canoe is taking them INTO it.

Gonna hafta bring a camera!

N

Alligator Alley

Me, May 5, 1965, surveying the baseline for what would become Alligator Alley. The water moccasins were a major concern.

Where did the years go?

Alligator Alley

great pic Bruce!! and almost exactly 4 years before I was born!!

I did have a close encounter with a python last year. it was about as thick as my thigh, curled up around a cypress tree in a patch of sun. stupid me was alone, with my phone and camera in a backpack tied to a tree up the cut line. i had waded up the line to take a last minute look for a long lost monument and ran into the snake on the way back. must have stepped within 5 feet of him on the way up. took about 20 minutes for my heart to slow down.

> I have read that high DC voltage, such as that used in a small stun-gun, is supposed to neutralize the venom when used at the area of the bite.

This technique is controversial; use it at your own risk. For a skeptical view -- but one that at least attempts to document its perspective -- see Debunking Usage of Electric Shock for First-Aid Treatment of Venomous Snakebite.

A client of mine in Southern Arizona was out walking his dog one summer evening a few years ago. Out of the blue "it felt like someone hit me in the leg with a baseball bat." It knocked him down, and he looked at the back of his calf and saw the fang marks - never saw the snake...dog never did either.

He walked home and drove to the hospital. The doctor, who has treated hundreds, if not thousands, of snake bites told him he had never seen fang punctures 2-1/2" apart. Client was in the hospital for about 2 weeks. He said the first 5 days were beyond excruciating - he was on the verge of asking the doctor to amputate the leg because the morphine was not helping. He finally recovered, but lost a fist-sized chunk of his calf muscle.

Doctor said the snake was probably a Diamondback - but no one knows for sure.

Alligator Alley

Wow you have been surveying for a long time. I'm old and I was a jr. in high school then. 🙂

You have seen a lot of changes in this profession.

I just had a call from a neighbor

I have pulled small snakes out of their pool skimmer in the past and she called to say she had a snake on the deck. It as a King Snake about 18 inches long and I removed him from the deck and dropped him in the brush outside our fence. She has two children aged 6 and 8 and I let them have a good close look. I told them to never pick up a snake, if they saw one to call me and I'd come tell them what kind it was and dispose of it for them. I told them that King Snakes are the "good guys" and eat bugs, mice and other snakes. Children aren't afraid of snakes unless we make them that way.

Andy

Snake Chaps Work

Was struck twice while working in Barateria swamp, both times jumping out of the boat to tie it up. Once I jumped right on a good 3 footer, hit me repeatedly around the ankles and calves, venom all over the chaps but no punctures. The second time I was tying the boat up, and backed into him, once again stepping on him. That one hit me behind the knee, and it felt like I had been punched. Don't know how long he was, by the time I quit swinging the bush hook he was 3 inches about 15 times.