Tonight I had a chance encounter with a neat little snake. He was laying in the road soaking up heat and if I hadn't had a flashlight it would have been easy to step on him because he didn't rattle at all. I present the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (I apologize for the suckitude of these pics): This snake was small (approximately 14 inches) and only had 2-3 rattle scales. He was in perfect position to get hit by a car and judging by how apathetic he was to my presence, he would have stayed there for quite some time. I moved him off the road using a couple of sticks that were over 2 ft long. This was really difficult and took a lot of time. The amazing thing is that the snake didn't rattle at me until I'd messed with him for about 5 minutes. I've never seen a diamondback that was so tolerant. Once he got rattling, though, he really went at it. The look on my dogs face was pretty funny when he heard that sound. Anyway, I got him off the road without getting bit so all in all it was a successful night for me.
All most snakes want is to be left alone, not surprised it took a bit of provoking before this little basker started attacking. Good on you for helping it along.
You were wise to make sure Elwood was warned as to the content of this thread. Else doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom may have followed.
What do you do when you get bit by a rattlesnake? I was near Roundup, Montana once helping brand some cows, and what was to me at that time a huge fucking snake.....had been hiding in some irrigation pipe right where we were branding. Well, she got pissed off by all the smoke or something, because she got real aggressive, and we ending up shooting her. She was literally a few inches away from a kid holding one of the calves down, and seriously aggressive. The kid did a great job staying still, but we had no choice but to shoot her. Thinking back, I wonder if anyone knew what to do if the kid got bit.
If you get bit by a large rattlesnake then your only concern should be seeking professional medical assistance. Diamondback venom is hemotoxic and can maim a person for life. Without medical attention, the wound can become necrotic and cause toxic shock. Additionally, the appendage can become so swollen that blood flow ceases and you can lose your arm/leg/whatever. You can also suffer internal hemorraging. If you can't get to a hospital, then you just have to ride it out and try and treat symptoms as they occurr.
No it was in the 90's all day. Too hot for snakes to be out. When the sun went down, then temp dropped to about 75 and the humidity level was pretty high. This is when you see a lot of snakes on the road. Humidity plus relatively cool air temp, plus radiant heat from the road equals lots of snakes. I saw 5 snakes last night (2 dead), and 2 more dead ones on the road this morning.
So the 'story' of getting it treated in 5 min or you're dead isn't true? Cause that is what we were told as kids growing up in rattlesnake country, Washington State. What about a smaller rattlesnake? What do you do if you're too far away to get medical help?
No, that 5 minute crap doesn't apply to any snake in the world. There are only a handful of snakes that even have close to a 100% fatality rate without medical care. Also, it's difficult to be too far away from medical help in the U.S. If you're by yourself, then it might be a problem cause you may be rendered unable to move around freely within as little as half an hour if you have a really bad reaction to the venom. Remember, most snake bites in the U.S. are not fatal even without antivenin. You probably have a number of hours before your situation becomes critical. Still, there are exceptions and some people become critical really fast. The truth is that if you're by yourself and hours away from help and you get bit, then you're just in a really bad situation and there is no trick I can tell you that will solve your problems. My grandfather was bitten by a Western Diamondback in an oilfield in the middle of nowhere. If he had been by himself, he would probably be dead. Luckily, someone happened to come along. Even then, it was several hours after the bite that he was treated medically. He survived with no ill effects.
A real man (or woman or kid, sadly) passes rattlesnakes around as part of a church service! Like the old song says..."Praise The Lord, and Pass the Antivenin!"
