Snakes
S nakes are capable of putting great fear into most of us. I’ve always said when I see a snake near me, I move first and worry about identifying the type of snake after I get stopped.
There are many different types of snake living in our area, and only the rattlesnake is dangerous, though every other breed can startle us. The gopher snake even looks a little like a rattler at first glance. If we have the misfortune to get bitten by anything other than a rattlesnake, there will probably be a few scratches and small needle-like punctures and little more. Of course, there will also be a healthy dose of fright. However, a bite from a rattler is much more serious because of the injection of venom.
The rattlesnake uses long hollow fangs to inject venom in their prey to paralyze and kill their next meal. They will also use their fangs to protect themselves. The poisonous venom is stored in small pockets in the head, thus the title “pit vipers.”
The venom does great damage to the flesh of the human body, but is seldom fatal. If bitten by a rattler, the sooner one can get to a hospital for treatment, the less damage will be done to the tissue around the bite. If you have cellular service, immediately summon aid. If not, even if you are well away from your transportation, you are almost certainly going to be better off to walk slowly to your vehicle, then drive toward help.
If at all possible, let someone else drive. If that is not possible, drive at a normal speed, summon help as soon as you can, then transfer to an ambulance when you meet it. A frightened, postbite human, can be a real danger on the road. Fear, combined with the effects of the venom, can easily cause a person to use poor judgment. This individual will drive too fast, take too many chances, and may even cause injury to themselves and others.
In discussing snakebite with medical professionals, universally, they feel the best self-treatment is to get to medical help. The old storied-method of cutting an X in the flesh over the bite and sucking out the poison will do more damage than good. A little ice over the bite will help keep the area cool, and minimize the venom distribution by reducing the blood vessel size.
I don’t go out hunting rattlesnakes, but will kill one should it make the mistake of slithering onto my hilltop. They will be dispatched as quickly and humanely as possible. Wives, dogs, and grandchildren don’t need to be at risk of snakebite.
Last summer, on the way back inside the house after feeding animals, Sharon discovered a rattlesnake much too near the back door. Her phone was inside, as well as her car keys. I was away on a fire so she no choice but to walk to the neighbor’s house, who came and eliminated the danger with a small pistol.
We’ve already killed two rattlers on our hilltop this year. Bob found them both. He told me only after he killed the first one. He had the second one pinned down with a shovel, but wood chips kept the blade off the ground. He yelled to me for help. I got another tool and helped him hold the snake down. He moved around to the other side, scraped the wood away, and killed it.
After cutting off and burying the head to prevent dogs, or other animals from finding and biting down on the head we harvested the rattles. I suggested the skin was a very nice size, and asked him if he’d like to take it home. He got it home, and went inside to sharpen his knife. When he returned to skin it, a red-shouldered hawk was climbing away with the snake securely in his claws.
One summer evening Sharon went outside to feed animals, and discovered a large king snake in the arbor above her intended path. Many snakes, including the gopher and rattler, will climb into bushes looking for small prey. Apparently the black and white striped snake was cruising around the bird nests in the vegetation, looking for either baby birds, or eggs. Sharon knew there wasn’t any serious risk of the king snake dropping on her, but reported she stayed well clear of the area underneath it.
My dad told me a tale about the experience of a friend of his. Someone he knew killed a big rattler, and wanted to cut off an impressive set of rattles. When he reached down with his knife, Dad stopped him.
“You better hold down the front of that snake when you cut those off.”
‘Oh, he can’t hurt me. I already cut off his head. There’s nothing up there for me to hold down.”
As he spoke, he plunged his knife into the snake just in front of the rattles. The headless front of the snake whipped around, smacking the bloody stump into the hand holding the knife. According to Dad, though the man knew he wasn’t snake-bit, he turned very pale and had to sit down to keep from falling down. Dad’s story impressed on me the only safe way to collect a souvenir from a rattlesnake, even with the head cut off. Brent Gill lives in Springville. His “Daunt to Dillonwood” column appears regularly in The Porterville Recorder through the generosity of Weisenberger’s Hardware on West Olive in Porterville. If you enjoyed this column, follow his blog at http://brentgwriter.blogspot.com.