# How Long Does It Take For A Water Moccasin Bite To Kill You? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 10, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981 "2001-07-10T19:11:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/1 "2001-07-10T19:11:59Z")
I do alot wakeboarding in a river known to have those little nasty critters so I thought it would be a good thing to know. How long do I have to get to the hospital before I see God? Also should you do the old knife cut on the wound and spit out the poison routine on a water moccasin bite? Thanks guys and gals. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/2 "2001-07-10T19:37:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wildest Bill \* > \*\*How long do I have to get to the hospital before I see God? > > Also should you do the old knife cut on the wound and spit out the poison routine on a water moccasin bite?\*\* One bite from a water moccassin (aka cottonmouth) is not likely to kill an adult human. Maybe if it got you on the neck, I suppose. The most important safety precaution is to have companions who can pull you from the water before you drown or get bit again. The knife cut/suck out the poison treatment is an UL-don’t do it. Assuming you don’t have a snakebite kit with you, the best thing to do is apply a pressure bandage, makeshift if necessary, and immobilize the limb that’s been bit. I’m not going to try to give details on pressure bandages-any decent first aid manual can explain it better than I could. ---
**Author:** ![missdavis102](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@missdavis102](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missdavis102)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/3 "2001-07-10T20:11:16Z")
This page: [http://www.wf.net/~snake/firstaid.htm](http://www.wf.net/~snake/firstaid.htm) has some thoughts, but they don’t vouch for the soundness of any recommendations and urge caution not to be bitten in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/4 "2001-07-10T20:20:21Z")
**Bill** , I swear, if you’re posting from a laptop and a payphone in some ghod-forsaken wilderness place, wondering what to do about that bite you just got… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/5 "2001-07-10T20:23:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by missdavis102 \* > \*\*This page: [http://www.wf.net/~snake/firstaid.htm](http://www.wf.net/~snake/firstaid.htm) > has some thoughts, but they don’t vouch for the soundness of any recommendations and urge caution not to be bitten in the first place. \*\* That page is a great example of why one shouldn’t rely on the 'net for medical advice. (That includes stuff posted on this board, of course. 🙂 ) You’re not going to get an appreciable amount of poison out of a snakebite by mouth suction, with or without cutting the flesh around the wound first. If you have a snakebite kit, there should be a toxin extractor which will be much more effective. Otherwise, you’re just (a) using up time which would be better spent in speeding the victim in the direction of the nearest emergency room, and (b) increasing the risk of secondary infection. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/6 "2001-07-10T22:58:07Z")
Sometimes the poison doesn’t kill you directly, but you are incapacitated enough to drown. There was a case a couple of years ago in North Carolina where they did an autopsy on a drowning victim, and they found that he had first been bitten while in the water. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/7 "2001-07-10T23:42:42Z")
Exactly, whitetho. That’s why I strongly recommended having someone with you who can pull you out of the water. It’s secondary effects that are generally the most dangerous-that, and multiple bites. (I’m told that cottonmouths sometimes nest in colonies, but I don’t know if it’s true.) ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/8 "2001-07-11T08:26:24Z")
Yes, they nest, quite a bit of personal observation. Despite what snake lovers would have you believe, cottonmouths are agressive, again personal experience. Their bites can be multiple and can kill. It depends where they bite you (and it has nothing to do with your neck) it’s the bite’s proximity to a major artery. Do not cut/suck. There are excellent’pumps’ on the market - get one. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/9 "2001-07-11T21:02:46Z")
SCSimmons said: > [@](#): > > The knife cut/suck out the poison treatment is an UL-don’t do it. Nitpick - it is not an urban legend. It is a discredited method that used to be advocated but now has been shown to not be worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/10 "2001-07-11T21:35:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > **Bill, I swear, if you’re posting from a laptop and a payphone in some ghod-forsaken wilderness place, wondering what to do about that bite you just got…** That also was my first thought, upon seeing the tread title and starter. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/11 "2001-07-11T21:47:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mouthbreather \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > > **Bill, I swear, if you’re posting from a laptop and a payphone in some ghod-forsaken wilderness place, wondering what to do about that bite you just got…** > > That also was my first thought, upon seeing the tread title and starter. 🙂 > \*\* Ya’ll two are funny.😃 .The thing that made me ask the question is this dude just told me that a cottonmouth start attacking his boat. :eek: . I mean if the snakes are that agressive they definetely are going to bite me when I am disoriented from a fall after an invert. So I was just asking the question to see if I would have enough time to get to the hospital before I passed on the next life. But I really appreciate the concern guys. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/12 "2001-07-11T23:39:56Z")
Bill, if I were you, I’d find a new place to wakeboard…btw, what IS wake boarding? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/13 "2001-07-12T00:03:38Z")
> [@](#): > > _From [Dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com/cgi-bin/dict.pl?term=wakeboard):_ > wake·board (wkbôrd, -brd) > n. > A short, very broad water ski ridden in the manner of a surfboard by a person towed by a motorboat. Plenty of chances to fall off one of those, methinks. (I’ve never done it myself.) ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/14 "2001-07-12T00:13:53Z")
When I was a kid running around in the woods with a .22, there were three aniumals we were allowed to shoot with total impunity: Squirrels (they breed even faster than rabbits), crows (a major nuisance in agricultural areas), and cottonmouths (the inspiration of the phrase “mean as a snake”, IMHO). ---
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/15 "2001-07-12T21:54:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*Bill, if I were you, I’d find a new place to wakeboard…btw, what IS wake boarding? > \*\* I can’t let no stinking snakes ruin my wakeboarding. I’ll just buy some poison and kill’em all and then let Satan sort’em out. 😃 Wakeboarding is the awesome sport guin it is like a snowboard on water. It has a fin in the front and the back so you can go in either direction. And you can jump the wake and get up to 8 to 10 feet in the air. What a rush. You should try it. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2001, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/16 "2001-07-12T22:28:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wildest Bill \* > **I can’t let no stinking snakes ruin my wakeboarding. I’ll just buy some poison and kill’em all and then let Satan sort’em out. 😃** Here’s a hint: if the snake offers you an apple, go for it. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-water-moccasin-bite-to-kill-you/71981/17 "2001-07-13T02:14:04Z")
I’ll take your word for it. I hate snakes, and I’m a total klutz. I nearly killed myself trying to water ski. I did like tubing, though. _hooking an inner tube up to the boat…that was fun!_