[pct-l] Rattlesnake Bites

[Junaid Dawud]

In 2006 I saw a number of rattlers. A few were close enough when I  
noticed them that they probably could have bit me. I actually stepped  
ON one of them. They basically just want you to go away, they don't  
want to bite you.

Junaid

On Mar 24, 2010, at 3:46 PM, <abiegen at cox.net> wrote:

> One of our friends that we hike with often was bitten by a  
> rattlesnake as he climbed up a rock formation. Although he got to  
> the hospital he did suffer damage to muscles and nerves that lasted  
> for a period of a year. He had to learn to walk again. He also found  
> out that since snake bites are rare and snake venom has an  
> expiration date and is very expensive that local hospitals do not  
> store a full dosage. If they get a snake bite victim they figure  
> they can fly some more in from another hospital if the victim  
> appears to be in danger of dying. As mentioned already, their  
> primary concern is to keep the victim alive - not to stop the damage  
> done by the bite.
>
> Another friend who works in an Emergency Center said that 95% of the  
> bite victims are males between the ages of 16 to 29 with alcohol on  
> their breath and bites on their hands. Most probably just a personal  
> guess but you get the point. Snakes don't want to bite you. The  
> older snakes know that they need that venom for their next meal and  
> something as large as you doesn't fit the bill. So with them you  
> will most often get the dry bite if you screw with them. Baby snakes  
> are more dangerous because they don't have enough experience to know  
> that.
>
> I've seen dozens of rattlesnakes over the years and never once had a  
> problem. We joke (but it is somewhat true too) the first person  
> passing a rattler notices nothing, the second gets hissed at, the  
> third hears the rattle, and the fourth gets bit. That's why I lead  
> hikes....
>
> TrailHacker
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