Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Snake ID

Ouch!

A friend of mine sent me that a couple weeks ago.

The caption read "Corvette Taillights for sale, Good Condition"

At the bottom it read, "Texting device still in drivers hand".

I do not mean to sound callus, but thankfully he did not run into someone that got hurt.

It's sad it happened in the first place.

I wonder if the Corvette driver lived?


































sarcasm

It is sad' like when a smoker gets lung cancer.

Not with the front license plate hanging over the left rear tire.

I have some stories about Hot Rod's, Wild Times, and people T-Boning semi trailers.

Sorry to say, but a few friends died in this fashion. Way before cell phones!

I am a small town Doctor in West Texas and I take care of a fair amount of rattle snake bites. Cro-Fab, which is the FDA approved anti-venom we use is the gold-standard. I am told it is close to 2k/dose, and most require 6-10 doses.

It is my understanding that there are cheaper anti-venom, but the risk for anaphylatic shock is much higher, and thus never FDA approved.

My last fellow probably had a 50K dollar bill to our hospital because he required a larger dose to get control of the tissue damage.

Medicine is expensive in the good old USA, which is a whole different topic.

I wonder if that may be the one good thing about having feral hogs around?
I was not aware that rattlesnakes were part of their diet.

Dustin I've wondered if God-forbid I or a guest on my property were to ever get bit by a poisonous snake if I should go to the nearest small town hospital..(25 mins)..do almost all even small town hospitals have snake anti-venom???....or drive the extra 45 mins to an hour to Dallas to a larger trauma center hospital? Someone told me if a snakebite happens try to get a cell phone pic of snake if at all possible to help doctor know what anti-venom to administer.

Great advice! When I was 10 I was canoeing the Rappahannock River with my Dad. We camped for the night just in time for 3-4 inches of rain to hammer us. The next morning we were looking at the raging river trying to figure out what to do when an upside-down canoe floated by, then some supplies, finally a man clutching his 12-13 year old son as they got slammed by rocks. My Dad swims to them and drags them to shore but not before putting his hand on a log for balance which was occupied by a copperhead. He was bit on the pinky and blue blood began streaming down his arm, the rescued Father and Son hiked with us for 3 miles before we got to a highway and hitch-hiked a ride to the hospital. We had no picture of the snake and did not get a positive ID on it. The doctors assumed it was a cottonmouth bite and gave him the wrong anti-venom at first which slowed the whole process. Eventually they used the copperhead anti-venom and my Dad was able to keep his finger but for a while it was quite dicey. He spent 8 days in the hospital.
A cell phone picture of the snake will save a lot of time, money, and uncomfort!

The good thing now is that Cro-Fab covers all the Pit-Vipers in North America, so if we think it is a venomous snake, then we start it... if we are doubtful, we do blood work and watch vitals ever 2-3 hours and do a 24 hour hospital observation. Sometimes we see "Dry Bites" going through a cowboys boot, or thick jeans...

Zep I would call the small hospital and ask them if they stock the Cro-fab. most small ED's in texas have it. The second question would be if the local doc feels comfortable caring for such a wound. I transfer patients to larger hospitals about 1/2 the time on these bites because you can develop some surgical issues, and I dont have a surgeon at my hospital.

If i was only 25 more minutes to a larger hospital, i might go for that. The advantage of the small hospital is that we are crazy fast compared to the large ones.


Hope that helps


DRP

Thanks Dustin...so basically you are saying that a rattlesnake, cottonmouth, or copperhead bite won't kill you as long as you get to a decent hospital within say 90 minutes?

I know the sooner the better, but I just didnt know what the cutoff danger point is as far as how soon you need to get to the hospital.

From Wills Point I'd probably head towards Baylor Dallas, Baylor Plano, or Mother Francis in Tyler, Texas.

CroFab: Pretty neat stuff

Maybe a cottonmouth where do you live?

I have had a lot of my customers ask me about water snakes, so I did some research and compiled a short write up which compares the characteristics of the Western Cottonmouth and the Diamond Back Water Snake. These 2 snakes are the most common venomous and non-venomous water snakes in Texas and most of the south east. I don't know how to attach a pdf to this post, so if you are interested in seeing it email me at :

[email protected]

Hey Brad, I just sent you an e-mail for that PDF, thanks for putting that together! I also wondered if you do any work in North Texas or if anyone up here knows of someone in the Dallas area that does pond renovations?

Dawn

Welcome Dawn to PB.

Call Mike Otto.


http://www.ottosdirtservice.com/Pages/default.aspx /

[email protected]

1-800-882-3478 (DIRT)

Thanks, just shot him an e-mail. Preciate the referral.