BAD rattlesnake bite!

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imported_truzoom

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WARNING



This is definitely not for the faint of heart, or those with a weak stomach. It is by no means disgusting or bad or any of that.. more like what you could see on one of those discovery channel surgery shows. I found it to be really interesting though, because..well the pictures will explain.



AFAIK, this doesn't violate any forum rules, but mods feel free to delete this thread if it isn't appropriate.



http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/rattlesnakepics.htm
 
I've seen other, similar images. You sure gain a lot of respect for those serpents when you see the damage they can inflict.



My friends and I used to encounter rattlesnakes all the time while mountain biking in the local mountains here in SoCal. We once had a park ranger tell us to never be the third rider in line because:



The first bike will waken a sleeping/sunning snake

The second bike will make the snake mad

The snake will strike at the third bike



Nothing was more frightening than the sound of that rattle when you passed a snake in the brush just off the trail, and you knew you were closer than you'd ever intentionally get to one!



Chasing coyotes was fun though. Finding fresh mountain lion footprints (talk about BIG feet!)....not so much.
 
Check this bad boy out! Think that dude's arm would survive a nibble from Mr. Anaconda? :lol
 

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I read the story and stopped when it said Western Diamondback. As Mike said, reading stories like that as well as watching medical shows will show you the power of venom. I used to watch a show on Animal Planet called Venom ER and some of the snakebites that would come in were frightening at best. As the doctor on that show stated and this story showed, "Time is tissue" because the venom is actually breaking down muscle tissue. With the time that he got help, there was a LOT of damage because, if I am not mistaken, some rattlesnake venom is also mycotoxic as well as neurotoxic. Most of them were from the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake which is on par with the Mojave Rattlesnake as far as potency of venom.



Taken from IL DNR website:



Four native Illinois snake species are venomous: the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), the cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), and the eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus).



Some of the massasaugas are in the Chicago area.
 
A guy down the block from me proudly declares he uses a .22 to greet any legless visitors. :nervous:
 
Bill D said:
A guy down the block from me proudly declares he uses a .22 to greet any legless visitors. :nervous:
Click to expand...
A little tidbit I saw on the Discovery Channel on Sunday. The act of biting and injecting venom is primarily a reflex action. They'll still bite you after they're dead. :eek:



They showed a segment (and reenactment) on a guy who almost died from a small bite on the tip of one finger. He and his buddies had shot the snake and had meant to put the head under a big rock or something where nobody would accidentally stumble on it. He had cut the head off and was carrying it, holding the jaws closed. He figured his grip must have relaxed a little because the dead thing bit him. :wall



Darn near killed him but he got through it. :) They had to amputate the finger though. :(





PC.



edit: Oh, and they estimate that about 20% of all rattler bites are from dead animals.
 
I used to keep snakes as a hobby, a serious amount of them at one time. I had two Pygmy Rattlers that were really nice. One day while transporting them to sell them they overheated and died, my fault of course. Since it had only been a short time since they were put into the container I was holding the nicer of the two and trying to cool it and force some air into its mouth. I then did something that still gets brought up when my friends get together, yea mouth to mouth. Lucky for me he stayed dead....



Another time I had a pair of Canebrake Rattlers that were really getting to big for me, they were also the most aggressive I had ever owned. This is not the norm as they are generally thought of us a rather stand off'sh variety. I opened the cage to remove one and carelessly took my attention off the larger male., when I glanced back 10 seconds later he was 3 inches from my forearm in striking mode. I never moved so fast in my life. It was shortly thereafter I decided I should stick no non venomous reptiles. Don't mess with them unless you have the proper equipment, Tube EVERY time and always have help its just silly to die over something like that.



That guys arm was sick



Ah the glorious days of my misspent youth
 
Bill D said:
A guy down the block from me proudly declares he uses a .22 to greet any legless visitors. :nervous:
Click to expand...





WERD~! I used Mom's LX470 on the last snake that decided to come into our garage. He was a quick lil SOB and I had to manuever to take care of him, but he was a pancake when the LX was done.



I am terrified of snakes. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them.
 
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