Rattlesnake Bite

[creed]

I have had a lot of experience with snake bite living on a farm/ranch all of my life. I have seen numerous cows, horses, and dogs bitten. My dad, mom and daughter have been bitten. My daughter was bitten by a green Mohave. It was not pretty and we nearly lost her. Neither of my parents went to a doctor although both should have. My dad was in bed for over a week and my mom's foot swelled up like a blimp.

Our doctor told us had my daughter been bitten by a red Mohave she would have probably not made it so the kind of snake is going to be a huge factor. Something many medical personnel don't account for is infection. It can be worse than the bite itself. And as Slim mentioned there are dry bites. One of my girlfriends was bitten twice in her teen years. Both bites were dry.

[CouesWhitetail]

I use the SPOT unit as well and recommend it for anyone that spends a lot of time out in the hills, especially if you do it alone. I got my SPOT unit from sponsor Santana Outdoors....give Eric a call, he has used one for years.

 

http://www.santanaoutdoors.com/servlet/StoreFront

[Jbird]

Years back the Tucson paper had an report about some guy who got bit when he tried to feed a rattlesnake a piece of lettuce. DON'T FEED THE RATTLESNAKES!!

[gonehuntin]

I always wear snake gators this time of year, but last week i shot a quail that just happened to land 6 inches from a pissed off rattler. when i bent over to grab the bird i realized he was there about a foot from my hand. I guess gators are no god if ya get bit in the hand. I was def in cell range but i dont think it would have helped because i would die from a heart attack before the snake bite killed me.

[Viper]

I have had a lot of experience with snake bite living on a farm/ranch all of my life. I have seen numerous cows, horses, and dogs bitten. My dad, mom and daughter have been bitten. My daughter was bitten by a green Mohave. It was not pretty and we nearly lost her. Neither of my parents went to a doctor although both should have. My dad was in bed for over a week and my mom's foot swelled up like a blimp.

Our doctor told us had my daughter been bitten by a red Mohave she would have probably not made it so the kind of snake is going to be a huge factor. Something many medical personnel don't account for is infection. It can be worse than the bite itself. And as Slim mentioned there are dry bites. One of my girlfriends was bitten twice in her teen years. Both bites were dry.

 

Holy smokes! Where do you live?

Years ago we used to hunt around Tombstone...lots of snakes....big ones. That got a little spooky sometimes. I was struck on the bottom of my boot as I was about to step on a rattler in tall grass. I bought a pair of snake gaters and wear them when in areas with a lot of snakes. They work great for Shin Daggers too!

If I am bitten, I think I would kill the snake and take it with me so medical can identify what type it is....then make a hat band.

[ajohunter]

Most snake bites don't cause an allergic reaction so the benadryl and epi pen will have no therapeutic effects. The epi could actually do more harm because it will increase your heart rate, blood pressure and the force of contraction of your heart. That means the venom will travel through your system faster. The only treatment is antivenin. The Emergency room does not need to know what kind of rattlesnake bit you so don't waste time trying to kill it and take it in with you.

[reganranch]

I always wear snake gators this time of year, but last week i shot a quail that just happened to land 6 inches from a pissed off rattler. when i bent over to grab the bird i realized he was there about a foot from my hand. I guess gators are no god if ya get bit in the hand. I was def in cell range but i dont think it would have helped because i would die from a heart attack before the snake bite killed me.

 

Thats a good thing he was vocal of his presence. I let those live but the quiet ones are not so lucky those are the ones that are not seen till their hanging on to you.

[Antmo23]

In all my years of being in the desert, I've only seen a few dozen. I like watching them though, and I love hearing them rattle! I am very VERY allergic to bee stings so if I got bit away from my truck and I was alone, I'd be in trouble. I do carry epi pens but I don't think that it would work for bites. I don't think it'd kill me, but I'd be hurting for awhile. I don't know if I'd kill the snake or not...

[Non-Typical Solutions]

Man, lots of good info, I predict I will die from heart failure out there someday. Would prefer that method over snake bite.

 

All the years growing up in southern NM we had many many encounters with big rattlers, but they always seemed to give fair warning and never once was any of us bitten.

 

These little black mountain rattlers seem more passive and actually scare me more cause they don't sound the alarm quite so fast.

 

 

Thanks for all the feedback, I think we can figure something out to ease our minds.

[Tines]

Most snake bites don't cause an allergic reaction so the benadryl and epi pen will have no therapeutic effects. The epi could actually do more harm because it will increase your heart rate, blood pressure and the force of contraction of your heart. That means the venom will travel through your system faster. The only treatment is antivenin. The Emergency room does not need to know what kind of rattlesnake bit you so don't waste time trying to kill it and take it in with you.

 

Good point about the epi-pen. Most people will have an allergic reaction to the antivenin though. But that's in a controlled environment so it's almost a moot point.

 

 

[Tines]

I just ran across a green Mojave a couple of weeks ago about 4 miles deep in the wilderness. Fortunately for me he let me know about 12 feet before getting to him that he was on the trail. There was no cell phone service and very spotty satellite service for my GPS and I was in a deep and steep canyon with the only way out pretty much they way I came in. I had to find a long stick to pick the snake up with and move him off the trail to get by. I did not kill him although sometimes I must admit I am questioning myself about that. I even ran across him on the way back the next day. He wasn't 20 yards from where I left him the day before but this time he was moving away. I kept thinking if I got bit by that 4 foot fat snake I hope he just ate. I could be in serious trouble humping it back to the truck. I would have to hike it out...so my question is how do you get help if your to sit and relax yourself? The Spot is the only answer I can think of and they work off of satellite. Otherwise it's get your hind end out of there and back to the truck.

 

Be careful out there this time of year. Specially you quail hunters.

 

GBA

 

A couple of yrs ago I almost placed my hand on a black-tailed rattlesnake as I was coming up the bottom of a canyon to reach a treed lion. After I shot the lion and hiked out my buddy hiked back in there the next day and he almost stepped on the snake in the same spot. Crazy how small their range is!

 

How do you stay calm when you know you just got bit and have some ground to cover, you ask?

 

Naturally an event like this is going to get someone pretty excited. But the key is to keep your heart rate relatively slow and senses together. We all know ways to increase or decrease our heart rate. Move steady as opposed to sloppy, you know? Getting too worked up will just dull your senses and make you look silly. Ha!

 

I've been on a few rattlesnake bites and granted none were in a wilderness area, most were able manage the pain and their composure to help the situation. This might sound insensitive but most "emergencies" are the overreaction of an "inexperienced" victim. Our bodies are super resilient. some pretty basic understandings of a scenario should help increase our likelihood of overcoming.

[Benbrown]

Get to someplace quickly where you have cell phone service and dial 911. Tell them your location, the problem, and the identity of the snake (if you know it). Then start looking for someone to drive you. If you're in the south half of Arizona, head for University Medical Center in Tucson and let them know you are on the way. Use a pen or magic marker to document the advance of the swelling, drawing a line at the end nearest your body and recording the time. Do this about every 15 minutes. If you start to go into shock, or lose control of your ablility to control your motor movements, call (or have someone call) for a helicopter.

 

I have a friend over in Rodeol who was bitten by a Mojave on his porch. He drove himself to the hospital in Silver City (about 90 miles) and ended up spending four days in ICU. He could have called 911 and had Portal Rescue at his house in less than 15 minutes, and would have suffered a lot less. One friend who is an expert on snake venoms opined that, were he bitten on a finger by a Mojave, he would be inclined to sever it and resolve to go on with his life with one less digit. Not sure that I would do anything that drastic, but they are bad medicine.

 

There are "dry bites" for sure, but a seven-year old over near Portal was bitten by a large diamondback this summer and very nearly died. You just don't know the difference right away. Treat every one as though it is potentially fatal.

[reganranch]

Get to someplace quickly where you have cell phone service and dial 911. Tell them your location, the problem, and the identity of the snake (if you know it). Then start looking for someone to drive you. If you're in the south half of Arizona, head for University Medical Center in Tucson and let them know you are on the way. Use a pen or magic marker to document the advance of the swelling, drawing a line at the end nearest your body and recording the time. Do this about every 15 minutes. If you start to go into shock, or lose control of your ablility to control your motor movements, call (or have someone call) for a helicopter.

 

I have a friend over in Rodeol who was bitten by a Mojave on his porch. He drove himself to the hospital in Silver City (about 90 miles) and ended up spending four days in ICU. He could have called 911 and had Portal Rescue at his house in less than 15 minutes, and would have suffered a lot less. One friend who is an expert on snake venoms opined that, were he bitten on a finger by a Mojave, he would be inclined to sever it and resolve to go on with his life with one less digit. Not sure that I would do anything that drastic, but they are bad medicine.

 

There are "dry bites" for sure, but a seven-year old over near Portal was bitten by a large diamondback this summer and very nearly died. You just don't know the difference right away. Treat every one as though it is potentially fatal.

 

Well said Ben.

[Scooter]

This scenario almost happened to me this year on my September Archery hunt up in 22... Although help wasn't that far away from where the truck was, the blind was really far away from the truck over some nasty steep hilly rocky country! I was pulling the tent stakes off of the corners of the blind and a rattler lashed out at my hand as I was reaching down. No warning. All I heard was the strike hiss. He missed somehow and I jumped about 18 feet in the air (it seemed). It then started to come out of the juniper after me as I was backing (stumbling and swearing) away so I had to do what I had to do. I kept thinking afterwards that I really didn't think about the escape/resuce plan and that would become part of any hunt I go on in the future.

[creed]

I pulled this off of Wikipedia

 

The most common subspecies of Mohave Green rattlesnake (type A) has venom that is considered to be the most debilitating and potentially deadly of all North American snake,^[11] although chances for survival are very good if medical attention is sought as soon as possible after a bite.^[12]

 

^{This is probably where the difference of the "red" and "green" Mohave comes in to play. There is type A and Type B with type B being the less harmful of the two. An article stated in the digital desert stated that a Mohave bite is 16 times more toxic than a sidewinder. If you get bit by one of these guys you may have a serious problem if you are away from immediate help.}