Posted on 05/02/2018 4:09:38 PM PDT by I Drive Too Fast
A 57-year-old man in Oklahoma is dead after being bitten by a rattlesnake, his wife said. Barry Lester was driving in Osage County on Sunday when he saw the snake in the middle of the road and decided to stop and move it out of the way, the Tulsa World reported. But during the attempt the rattler bit him — twice. “It bit his left hand, and then he put it in his right and it bit that hand too,” Lester's wife, Roberta, told the newspaper. The couple was traveling to Keystone Lake when the incident occured. “We were just going to walk and have a day outside enjoying the lake. It was his birthday,” she said. After realizing he was bit, Barry told his wife they needed to go to the hospital. The couple rushed to meet the ambulance at their Turley home, which would then take Lester to a hospital in nearby Tulsa. But then Lester's head suddenly dropped — and "that was it," Roberta said. Emergency officials tried to revive the 57-year-old but it was too late. Barry died from a “combination of the rattlesnake bite and an existing heart condition," according to the Tulsa World. Barry had wrangled snakes before, Roberta told the Tulsa World, which is why he was confident he would be able to remove the rattler from the road. But now his wife has a warning for others: "Don’t mess with snakes. If you hear it rattling, you leave it alone.”
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Did you hear about this?
Why the hell would anyone think this is a good idea???
Don’t try to move it, just give it the address of the nearest Bar Association.
Darwin Award
I can’t imagine either. I lived down there as a kid. With a healthy fear of rattlesnakes.
.38 spl snake shot cartridges are most useful in such a situation. I’ve had to do it. Hated to do it, since they’re good at eating problem rodents, but I couldn’t have one of the kids accidentally stepping on one.
Corollary: Run over it. Twice.
Bonus points - he did it on his birthday. How did he make it to 57?
Make sure you still see it on the roadway too and not wrapped up underneath the car.
Barry died from a “combination of the rattlesnake bite and an existing heart condition,” according to the Tulsa World.
In Texas I’ve seen people stop traffic to kick a turtle off the road.
Then get back in their truck, a mile latter and cross three lanes of traffic just to run over a snake.
No good deed goes unpunished.
Must have had beer involved.
Or a missing chromosome.
5.56mm
I use a hoe, best snake tool there is.
I got cornered in my work shed back in the late 70’s a cotton mouth between me and the door and the hoe. I was in a tight spot and that moccasin was getting territorial. luckily, I had a basketball on the bench right behind me and I got the basketball and dribbled the snake into submission then I reached for the hoe and lopped his head off.
I lived in a trailer, right next to a swamp and I had more snakes in my yard and more encounters with water moccasins than I even care to remember. Water Moccasins are ornery snakes. I hear that Sidewinders are pretty vicious Critters themselves. I try not to kill snakes cuz I do understand their value, but I am not getting bit by no snake if I can avoid it, and if I cannot avoid it then I want to do everything I can to neutralize the snake.
The deceased probably already reproduced, so Darwin’s law is nullified here.
RIP.
While hiking a popular trail I almost walked on a 3’ rattler. Unfortunately for the snake, I had my .22 thompson semi auto pistol.
Yep, if the choice comes down between you and the snake the snake has to be on the losing end.
If you are ever bit by a poisonous snake and no immediate emergency care is available, an electric shock will neutralize the poison and save your life. A stun gun is ideal. Jumper cables connected to a car battery will also work.
I let snakes live and let live...except copperheads and Cottonmouths. Steve Irwin caught every kind of poisonous snake in the world except for one...the water moccasin/cotton mouth. He said they were vicious and unpredictable and when they bite they bite not once to get away, they continually bite the target. Think of cottonmouths as the Kathy Griffin of snakes.
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