We were trying to purchase a home and while walking around the exterior I turned a corner and damned near stepped on a cottonmouth snake! Thing scared the crap out of me and I did the absolute wrong thing and took of running. I got about ten feet before I slipped on the concrete, fell on my hip and generally did more damage to myself than the snake could have done. My hip is swollen as are my wrist, ankle and knee. And of course my broken back has double the pain now.
I admit I have somewhat of a phobia when it comes to snakes. I have fought men twice my size and done all sorts of dangerous things in my life without irrational fear, being scared but in control, but a snake turns me into a 6’, 230lb little girl. So, my question is, had I actually stepped on Mr. Cottonmouth (yes, I am sure it was one) how dangerous would it have been if he had chomped on me? I was close to medical assistance, probably would have been in an ER in 20 minutes tops. Are snake bites, not including Coral snakes, from indigenous US snakes fatal to an adult who is able to get medical treatment? I thought I read somewhere that there hasn’t been a fatal snake bite in the US for quite sometime. Thanksssssssssssssssssssssss
You would be in a lot of pain, but it probably wouldn’t have killed you even without medical attention, unless you did something stupid like getting drunk. With an ER close by, there’d be no long-term problem at all.
I’m OK with snakes as long as I know they’re non-venomous. I’ve held people’s pet snakes before (garter snakes and the like) but if I were to encounter a snake out in the wild I’d get the hell out of dodge too.
Cottonmouth antivenom is widely available; it’s called CroFab. With prompt medical attention, you’d almost certainly be fine.
Coral snake antivenom, on the other hand, is no longer produced; Wyeth stopped making it in 2003 because of minimal demand. The FDA has been extending the expiration date on the remaining supply, originally set to expire in 2008. It will now expire this October, but it wouldn’t be terribly surprising to see another extension.
While rare won’t a coral snake bite kill you within 15 to 20 minutes? If medical attention isn’t swift and perfect you are a goner I thought, which is why I excluded coral snake in my op.
Nah. Almost any snakebite can be delayed indefinitely simply by applying a compression bandage. With a properly applied splint and bandage you’d have several hours before you suffered any serious effects.
According to the linked site Coral Snake bite symptoms may take 12 hours
to develop, and the fatality rate was about 10% before antivenin became available:
Speaking of badgers and snakes, the African Honey Badger is immune to the bite of
many poisonous species, and at least one African species, the Black Mamba is deadly
enough to kill you in minutes, not hours (not sure if Black Mamba is on the badger’s
hit list, though).
Google “honey badger vs snake” for pics and videos of these furry creatures throttling
cobras, and then making a meal out of them. (Mongoose Schmongoose).
Ah nope. I should have clarified. Currently I am 6 foot, 230lbs but I haven’t been in a good bar fight for at least 15 years. In my younger days I would fight just to fight and it didn’t matter how big my opponent was. Many of them were much bigger than me, at that time’s weight. I’m no internet tough guy, the older I get the less fighting looks like a good time. But I would rather take on a much bigger person in a fight than deal with a snake. I can keep my wits about me even if I think I am outclassed in a one on one, but a snake seems to turn me into a quivering bowl of jelly. Shows how powerful a phobia can be.
I am a herp geek or was when I was younger, I’m hardly an expert and the following is based on what I think I know so take it as such.
Three things figure into how dangerous a poisonous snake is.
Toxicity of the venom. Neurotoxic or the other kind (hemotoxic?)
Amount of venom delivered. Some snakes have small fangs, fangs at the rear of thier mouths or small venom sacks, some have large. Many poisonous snakes can control how much venom they deliver and can deliver a “dry” bite as a warning and to conserve thier venom for prey.
How likely they are to bite you. Some highly toxic snakes can be handled fairly safely because they almost never bite. Some sea snakes are like this.
Cottonmouths are, I believe, about mid range. They can be very aggressive but try to scare you first bfore biting. I’ve encountered a few in the wild and they put on a show but didn’t chase me down and bite me. They have good size fangs, hematoxic venom and probably could deliver a good sized dose.
Black Mambas are the worst case scenario. Aggressive, happily deliver a big dose of highly toxic venom, and are commonly encountered.
My friend was bitten on his hand by a copperhead. He received fairly prompt medical attention and was administered antivenin. The doctors kept him overnight at the hospital, which I think was due to monitoring requirements for the antivenin.
Hospital bill: $30,000, of which his insurance paid $24,000. This was outside of Houston, TX in 2008. Not sure why it was quite so much, although the antivenin alone was several thousand.
Without treatment, the bite could have caused muscle and nerve damage that would have limited the use of his thumb.
Yeeeesssshhhhh. Just reading the Wikipedia article on the Black Mamba gave me the creeps, and I’m not generally weirded out by snakes…a 14’ long snake that can travel at 10 mph with the first 4’ of its length held vertical? Freakin’ scary.
I was rollerblading years ago along a paved trail in the local park when I saw a branch laying across the path about 20 yards ahead of me. No problem, I thought, easy enough to step over as I skate along. When I was almost on top of the branch, it turned into a large water moccasin! :eek: I managed to get over him without rolling on him, but I was spooked and started to lose my balance and wound up taking a tumble. I got up very fast and looked back to see the snake slithering away toward the creek.