Posted on 03/28/2017 9:05:07 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Edited on 03/28/2017 11:23:06 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Authorities say a 5-year-old Florida boy is recovering after being bitten by a rattlesnake that he mistook for a toy. The incident happened Saturday in DeBary, which is north of Orlando.
Volusia County Sheriff's deputies tell local news outlets that the child was playing in the backyard when he saw the snake under a jungle gym. It bit him on the finger and he was rushed to a hospital where he was treated with anti-venom.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcmiami.com ...
Well the story leaves allot out but it sure sounds nice and sterile. What they didn’t say was that boy probably had his arm cut open from the hand to the elbow to relieve swelling. Since it’s a small child there’s a good chance for allot of tissue damage and the loss of fingers and muscle damage. Good chance that boy will have permanent disability from that bite. I damn near lost the use of my left leg due to a bite I received about 50 years ago when I was 16. While rarely fatal a rattler bite has the ability to cause considerable tissue loss due to the nature of the venom. As far as the relocating part I’ll leave that up to you, I kill every rattler I see and that averages out to about 75 a year here on the ranch. I an curious just how and where you would relocate it to. Turn a rattler lose on another persons property and you stand a good chance of getting your arse kicked. Most of us here in West Texas want the damn things off the ranches not delivered.
“”Yeah, I feel bad for the kid but I feel worse for the snake. “”
I don’t give a rip about the damn snake but a small child possibly losing fingers and suffering permanent damage to his hand and arm I find heart breaking.
I hate snakes with a passion, but do appreciate the fact that most of them will only bite as a last resort.
Pygmy Rattlesnake
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Timber Rattlesnake
Cottonmouth
Copperhead
Coral Snake
“There’re snakes in the garden...”
As I remember the Pecos Bill stories, the infant Bill used a rattlesnake for a rattle in his crib.
One of the neighborhood boys, (approximately 50 miles south west of Lincoln, ~ early 50s) maybe a little younger than the one in the story, was bit on his foot while taking lunch to his father working in the field. Don’t know if an adult saw the snake, but it was determined to be a rattler. He had foot problems well into adulthood.
Saw mostly bull and garter snakes in the area, but no rattlers.
Had a similar encounter with what I thought was a toy copperhead in my son’s bedroom. Fortunately, it moved before my hand got too close. Yikes!!
I have heard that anti-venom is so expensive now that vets don’t have it anymore. I would certainly hope that vet emergency 24/7 clinics have it but I am not sure.
We always enjoyed Steve Irwin while acknowledging his shows were scripted. We didn’t care. He was always fun to watch. For a long time after he died, I had a ‘cartoon’ on my fridge that showed a stingray crying and the caption was ‘I’m sorry Steve, I didn’t realize who you were’. It made me especially sad when I read that the other guys on the boat that day had implored him to wear a ‘chain mail’ vest under his shirt, just in case of a problem. He declined, saying his fans wouldn’t want to see him do that. If he had, he would still be alive. Sad for his family.
I have been where they supposedly are, but I have never encountered one. Years ago I walking a trail at the Golden Spike National Monument in Utah with my sons. They had signs up warning people to keep an eye out for rattlers. After a while, I was struck by the absolute silence out there, so I told my sons, “Stop. Listen.” Of course, they thought I had heard a rattler. Once I cleared that up, I asked them, “What do you hear?” They said, “Nothing.” “That’s right, I told them. Nothing.”
I was thinking the same thing. Nice idea, but doesn't look like as good as it initially did.
I get more than enough grief running the Windows Ping List, LOL.
Meanwhile, did you see this one?
Thanks for pointing out those grim but very important details. I hadn’t thought about that part at all. Shows how little contact I’ve had with rattlers (none, except via books and film). Yes, that venom would certain burn through the delicate network of nerves in a 5 y/o child.
On the other hand, sometimes children can recover from an injury much faster and more completely than an adult would
be expected to do. And sometimes not. As you described that bite you suffered as a teenager.
Yikes!
Yeah, that ping list will fail... too many freepers that are snowflakes where snakes are concerned. Sad really. If the poop ever really hit the fan, the snake haters wouldn’t last long in the wilderness. A garter snake would zip by and they’d end up shooting themselves in the foot.
I’ll never understand how people that are supposed to be on the tougher side of the spectrum of politics are such pansies. Seriously, it’s embarrassing.
One of my good friends is a firearms expert and instructor with an impressive collection, flies small planes in all kinds of weather, drives fast cars (including a vintage Corvette), and has a wild and checkered past... yet he can't stand the sight of blood, freaks out about injections, wouldn't even look at my post-op wrist scar after I broke it :-) But he at least will admit that even he's embarrassed by the little things he can't deal with. Doesn't change the fact, but he's honest about it.
He's fine with snakes and other creepy-crawlies, BTW. Ya just can't never tell.
Yeah, I know people like that. They give me a laugh... nothing personal against them but it’s funny.
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