Anyone here been bitten by a venomous snake.

[Gnometowner]

I have handled a couple of really big timber rattlers and lots of copperheads. Had a close call while dealing with a big rattler. They are very strong and tried to turn its head in my hand and I was lucky one of the big fangs almost got my thumb. 6ft long fat body. 13 rattles with a head as big as a block of 2x4 and 1 1/2" long fangs. Beautiful pattern, sold the hide for $100, made great tacos with the meat.
I dont handle them anymore, no sense pushing the odds of getting bit.

 

[TheOtherNeill]

Almost stepped on a Mohave rattlesnake hiking a couple years ago, they’re pretty venomous supposedly.

Mojave greens are no joke--neurotoxic as well as hemotoxic. I used to do survey and other fieldwork, and working in scrub or tall grass in San Bernardino or Riverside County always made me nervous.

 

[Nightclub Dwight]

Yikes to all these stories. I respect snakes and give them wide berth. I've never knowingly been close to any venomous snakes, and hope that trend continues.

However, I have a stack of ladders that I sometimes lock with a long cable. I've been using a few ladders lately, so the long cable is loose in the grass. Every time I walk to the back garden I nearly jump out of my skin when I see that steel cable lying in the grass. I finally flipped it back over the ladders so that darn cable doesn't scare the bejezus out of me every time I want to dump something on the compost pile.

 

[Toto'sDad]

I hate snakes.

 

[drmordo]

This thread reminded me of this Conon O'Brien bit.

NOTE: MILDLY OBSCENE but funny.

Skip to 1:30 if you don't want to watch the whole thing

 

[24 track]

May I hijack this thread to simply say thank you for saying "venomous" instead of "poisonous". A pet peeve of mine that bites me once in a while...

I have the same cringe when i hear the term "Cold Blooded" , in reference to reptiles the correct term is "Ectothermic", and even that is a misnomer because a Python will wrap its self around a clutch of eggs and physically raise its own body temperature by 2 degrees C to help incubate the eggs , also they have 2 cloacal spurs and a pevic girdle , ( used in mating ). The question is; 1) are they growing legs? or 2) are these possibly legs that are receding ? no one knows

 

[jimmywrangles]

I have the same cringe when i hear the term "Cold Blooded" , in reference to reptiles the correct term is "Ectothermic", and even that is a misnomer because a Python will wrap its self around a clutch of eggs and physically raise its own body temperature by 2 degrees C to help incubate the eggs , also they have 2 cloacal spurs and a pevic girdle , ( used in mating ). The question is; 1) are they growing legs? or 2) are these possibly legs that are receding ? no one knows

The guy who taught me snake catching thought they were vestigial legs and he knew his stuff so I'll go with that.
I didn't know about the ectothermic thing so I've learned something new.
Thank you.

 

[24 track]

The guy who taught me snake catching thought they were vestigial legs and he knew his stuff so I'll go with that.
I didn't know about the ectothermic thing so I've learned something new.
Thank you.

I got this from a university level set of books (12 volumes ) called the "Biology of the Reptilia " which at the time was the only known fully scientific biological documentation of reptiles, I dont know if the info was ever updated to today's standard, a fascinating read but i can attest that some of the information was dated.
I was in a group called the Herpetalogical society of BC , some great people with real information ,I even got to assist performing surgery an a full grown anaconda , took 6 people to hold it , LOL

 

[ZackyDog]

I almost stepped on a Coral Snake in San Antonio, TX on an abandoned road, circa 1993. I didn't realize until the last moment that it was at my feet. I froze and didn't want to startle it. It moved its head as if it were looking back and froze. Then thankfully it slithered away into the forest.

It looked "just like itself" in the reptile books. No, it wasn't a Milk Snake or a Scarlet King Snake.

Red-touch-yellow (can kill a fella).

Coral snake^

Scarlet King Snake^

I never saw any rattlesnakes. There was supposedly a nest in our old apartment complex. Only babies with no mother in sight.

 

[Stanford Guitar]

See Rattlers all the time on my MTB rides. Never bitten. Knock on wood.

 

[jimmywrangles]

I got this from a university level set of books (12 volumes ) called the "Biology of the Reptilia " which at the time was the only known fully scientific biological documentation of reptiles, I dont know if the info was ever updated to today's standard, a fascinating read but i can attest that some of the information was dated.
I was in a group called the Herpetalogical society of BC , some great people with real information ,I even got to assist performing surgery an a full grown anaconda , took 6 people to hold it , LOL

I've done an autopsy on a tiger snake and can do intra muscular injections on reptiles if needed but I've never had any official uni type schooling on reptiles just hands on training on how not to die.
To be honest the job was exciting 90% of the time and truly terrifying the other 10%.
Aussie snakes are not for the faint of heart nor is any venomous reptile from any country.
There are two overseas snakes in particular I would hate to have to deal with and that's Indian or Egyptain Cobra's and American Rattlesnakes, My deepest respect to anyone who handles those animals.

 

[ZackyDog]

Only one snake---The Mojave Rattlesnake---in the USA made the top 30 list below. I'm surprised that the Diamond Back didn't make the list. The Eastern Brown Snake can sometimes outpace a human running at full speed. The Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake can swim backwards. Most of these land snakes appear to be in Africa, Australia and India. As you will see, there are a few very venomous sea snakes.

I tried to upload the full-size image. This may help:

https://external-preview.redd.it/f2fVykWxV08bJAdVris0ziyRFOR_uV-PtXKg3_ITjBo.png?auto=webp&s=db7e5e1816287de040128c62a7ca5a478a8379f0

 

[jimmywrangles]

Snake Venom is measured on a strange scale that uses the Indian Cobra as a standard due to the fact that an untreated bite from one is generally 100% fatal.
The Cobra therefore has a venom rating of one, the RedBally black snake that got me is.22 (If I remember correctly) or roughly 1/5th as venomous as the cobra, the Australian inland Taipan rates at 50 or 50 times as venomous as the Cobra.
That scale is measured using mice as the test subjects which is a pretty rough gig for the mouse.
Never did I imagine there would be a snake thread on TDPRI , what an awesome forum.

 

[suthol]

My eldest son got bitten 5 times in quick succession by a brown (Dugite ?) in Perth a few years back.

He spent a few days in ICU after receiving multiple doses of antivenine and then a few more hospital recovering.

Note to young players, don't be a hero and try picking a snake to move it on just because some girls are screaming

 

[Jupiter]

Only one snake---The Mojave Rattlesnake---in the USA made the top 30 list below. I'm surprised that the Diamond Back didn't make the list. The Eastern Brown Snake can sometimes outpace a human running at full speed. The Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake can swim backwards. Most of these land snakes appear to be in Africa, Australia and India. As you will see, there are a few very venomous sea snakes.

View attachment 985276

I tried to upload the full-size image. This may help:

https://external-preview.redd.it/f2fVykWxV08bJAdVris0ziyRFOR_uV-PtXKg3_ITjBo.png?auto=webp&s=db7e5e1816287de040128c62a7ca5a478a8379f0

8 of 30 native to Australia, not counting the sea snakes...

 

[johnny k]

Just a joke folks.

 

[IanMoss]

the top 30 list

I've seen an Eastern Brown (#3) and Yellow-bellied sea-snake (#4) in person.

With regards the latter, what a beautiful creature:
(pic from wikipedia)

 

[jimmywrangles]

I've seen an Eastern Brown (#3) and Yellow-bellied sea-snake (#4) in person.

With regards the latter, what a beautiful creature:
(pic from wikipedia)

View attachment 985282

Stunning pic.

 

[jimmywrangles]

My eldest son got bitten 5 times in quick succession by a brown (Dugite ?) in Perth a few years back.

He spent a few days in ICU after receiving multiple doses of antivenine and then a few more hospital recovering.

Note to young players, don't be a hero and try picking a snake to move it on just because some girls are screaming

Dugites are scary, tell him he's brave also lucky....and not to do it again.

 

[suthol]

Dugites are scary, tell him he's brave also lucky....and not to do it again.

He'll be 53 in July so I hope he's become sensible by now.

About 6 months ago we were doing our daily beach walk and I put a baby Elegant Sea Snake back in the water before the seagulls got it.

It really was a beautiful looking animal