Anyone Ever Bit By A Rattler?

My Dad's old boss, a member of the Tohono O'odahm tribe, was bitten on the little finger by a rattlesnake when he was a little boy. The finger was normally shaped but remained the size it was when he was little.
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That same thing happened to me!!

(except the snake bit my weenie)
 
My God. Born in Trona.
I have walked the streets of Trona and I can say unto you:
"You gotta lotta snakes out there."


Jmings; are you familiar with Cuddleback dry bombing range? That area?





munk
 
This thread got me thinking about all the close calls I've had with critters of all kinds when I was opening and closing swimming pools in the summers. I've been chased by Rots that were "just big babies" and were supposed to be inside while I was working, I have been swarmed (but only stung once or twice) by wasps who made thier paper nest under the top rail of an above ground pool, I have had a close call with a ground hornet (ya know the ones that sound like lawnmowers when they fly and weigh about 6lbs) who tried to sting my arm, but landed on my watch and just stung the band...thank God, I have had cotton mouths come racing right at me off a cover pooled with 6 months of dirty water, and my luckiest bump in with the critters that took up shop in our man-made holes was when i was taking the liner out of an old dirty pool. I was barefoot in 18" of muck trying to cut the liner out from around the drain. After that was done I dropped a sump pump in to suck out as much muck as possible. Sitting amongst the mud and frogs was an alligator snaper with a shell dang near the same diameter as a manhole cover:eek: . How I didn't step on him I'll never know. Furthermore, how he didn't see my pink wiggling piggies as a bite to eat is an act of God. He was pretty cranky once his hole dried up;) We fished him out with a rope and pulled him into the cornfield nearby. It was cool and wet in there, but he couldn't live in that pool anymore.

Jake
 
I've had more experience with cotton mouths. I can attest to their agressive nature too. Case in point:

When I was a kid my thing was rooting around in the woods. We lived in the country outside a small town, Rayne LA, that was good for a boy like me. My friend and buddy in the Boy Scouts, future best man at my wedding, Dane, hung out with me a lot in those woods. He had a .22 pelet gun, but was the worst shot in the troop.

Anyway one day we were hiking in the Louisianna woods, and got to the bayou. Our plan was to wad across as usual, but there was this newly fallen tree that went right across. We decided to stay dry if we could, so I started across. The tree wasn't big, roughly 10" diameter at the base. Maybe halfway across a snake pops up under my feet. I had a stick and clunked it in the head. Two steps later that tree gave a crack and I took a header. Suddenly I was chest deep in that muddy Louisianna water.

Unfortunately the spot we usually waded across was farther upstream, and those muddy Louisianna bayou banks aren't conducive to climbing, so I couldn't get out. Then up comes that snake, and starts moving at me like it meant business. I thought I was a goner. I was certainly about to be bitten in the face by a cottonmouth. I remember thinking it was the biggest I'd ever seen. Closer and closer it came while I was struggling to climb the slimy mud bank. Giving up I turned and planned to use my stick. Before I had a chance Dane shot and hit that moving snake right in the head. It was maybe 3 feet away from me when that happened. Probably the best shot he had ever, or will ever make. Needless to say I had quite literally sh*t my pants. I remember being very happy when they hauled me up out of that water. We did skin that snake and tack it to a piece of plywood. Later that summer I saved Danes ass from a copperhead that was literally coiled around his leg. He had practically stepped on the thing. Lucky for him I was a pretty damn good shot and cleanly removed that snakes head completely missing his leg. It was only a two foot long snake, and a copperhead is nowhere near as menacing as a cottonmouth, but we were both just as grateful when it was dead. Beautiful skin too.
 
Great stories. I love this.

Zombies, Khuks, Snakes, Dogs.... all great stuff.






munk
 
aproy1101 said:
I've had more experience with cotton mouths. I can attest to their agressive nature too. Case in point:

When I was a kid my thing was rooting around in the woods. We lived in the country outside a small town, Rayne LA, that was good for a boy like me. My friend and buddy in the Boy Scouts, future best man at my wedding, Dane, hung out with me a lot in those woods. He had a .22 pelet gun, but was the worst shot in the troop.

Anyway one day we were hiking in the Louisianna woods, and got to the bayou. Our plan was to wad across as usual, but there was this newly fallen tree that went right across. We decided to stay dry if we could, so I started across. The tree wasn't big, roughly 10" diameter at the base. Maybe halfway across a snake pops up under my feet. I had a stick and clunked it in the head. Two steps later that tree gave a crack and I took a header. Suddenly I was chest deep in that muddy Louisianna water.

Unfortunately the spot we usually waded across was farther upstream, and those muddy Louisianna bayou banks aren't conducive to climbing, so I couldn't get out. Then up comes that snake, and starts moving at me like it meant business. I thought I was a goner. I was certainly about to be bitten in the face by a cottonmouth. I remember thinking it was the biggest I'd ever seen. Closer and closer it came while I was struggling to climb the slimy mud bank. Giving up I turned and planned to use my stick. Before I had a chance Dane shot and hit that moving snake right in the head. It was maybe 3 feet away from me when that happened. Probably the best shot he had ever, or will ever make. Needless to say I had quite literally sh*t my pants. I remember being very happy when they hauled me up out of that water. We did skin that snake and tack it to a piece of plywood. Later that summer I saved Danes ass from a copperhead that was literally coiled around his leg. He had practically stepped on the thing. Lucky for him I was a pretty damn good shot and cleanly removed that snakes head completely missing his leg. It was only a two foot long snake, and a copperhead is nowhere near as menacing as a cottonmouth, but we were both just as grateful when it was dead. Beautiful skin too.
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Andy that sounds a lot like my childhood.:):thumbup: Only replace the Louisianna bayou with the muggy dogwoods of Southern Indiana. Creeks, climbin', getting turned around bass akwards and taking the whole day to find your way out only to notice you weren't 200 yards as the crow flies from your own backyard:rolleyes: Snake shooting across your path like lightning that make you jump out of shorts, big lumbering snappers bobbing up for air from the creek shallows, hunting frogs with spears, crossbows, and homemade bows with reed arrows. I couldn't imagine a better childhood. My only wish that I can find and afford some land when little ones start to come into the picture for the wife and me. Saddly, my boyhood playground is now dotted with houses where people wanted to move out into the "country" bringing suburbia with them like a cancer:(
I've been through parts of the Louisianna bayou. Hot and muggy and full of skeeters and biting insects. Not a fun place to trek if you don't want to get up close with God's creatures of tooth, wing, and water..in other words, my kind of place:):thumbup:

Jake
 
Great thread HD. That pic of the cottonmouth is how I remember them, and that was a stocky little devil. Dane sent me pics in an e-mail with some huge ones he saw in the wreck of NO after the storm. He is an ME and had to go to the plants down there. He said you'd open a room full of equipment half full of water and get the shotgun ready. There was definitely a cottonmouth somewhere in there. Even found a gator sitting on top of a pipe in the middle of a pump room.

Yea Jake that sounds just like my childhood. Ran into everything from wild dogs to boar hogs to snakes and loggerheads. Lots of eels too. Those crazy bastids in Louisianna wait for a dry spell, then get into that muddy water and root around with their hands for catfish. You wouldn't believe how big those old catfish get in the bayous. Problem is you gotta reach up under the bank where they like to hide, and there aint no telling what you find in there.:eek: Saw a guy get pretty tore up by an eel once. Looked like his hand got stuck in a table saw. My dad saw a guy get bit by a cottonmouth on the arm. He said in 15 minutes his arm was purplish black and swolen. The guy was screaming in pain too. Lived too. Go figure.
 
Despite my facination with rattlers and courting disaster by getting really close and poking at them with sticks. I've found them to be non aggressive and will gladly reatreat if you let them. I read somewhere that 80% of all snakebites involve young men and alcohol. Go figure.
In my younger days I drunkenly caught one that slithered into our campsite in front of all my drinkin' buddies. Going to all that trouble and just killing it seemed really stupid. I carried him a quarter mile from our campsite and let him go under a Joshua Tree.
They are a wonderful species and don't get the respect or love they deserve.
 
munk said:
Great stories. I love this.

Zombies, Khuks, Snakes, Dogs.... all great stuff.
munk
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Munk your post is great as snakes are not that common here except fpr very common snakes . (garden variety )
They had a show on various types of snake bites of everything from cobras to a "Fer de Lance" (sp) The fer de lance is supposedly cousin to a rattler . What one bite did to this poor ladies leg was incredible . They had to open up her leg to the point of separating muscle groups to try and relieve the swelling . I believe they left her leg like that for ten days .

I would one day like to see a snake strike. i don,t mean this in a macho way but more to understand their blinding speed . Can it be because they do not telegraph their intentions and it is the abruptness as much as the speed that mystifies some people ?
 
Kevin the grey said:
Munk your post is great as snakes are not that common here except fpr very common snakes . (garden variety )
They had a show on various types of snake bites of everything from cobras to a "Fer de Lance" (sp) The fer de lance is supposedly cousin to a rattler . What one bite did to this poor ladies leg was incredible . They had to open up her leg to the point of separating muscle groups to try and relieve the swelling . I believe they left her leg like that for ten days .

I would one day like to see a snake strike. i don,t mean this in a macho way but more to understand their blinding speed . Can it be because they do not telegraph their intentions and it is the abruptness as much as the speed that mystifies some people ?
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The only time I've been bitten by a snake it was a boa constrictor my friend owned. Boas have tiny fangs, but aren't poisonous. Anyway I was holding the snake, I had held it many times before, and I was watching it pretty closely. And suddenly my friend said, "You just got bit." Truly I had gotten bitten three times and my arm was bleeding from six little holes. I hadn't noticed any movement of the snakes head during any of the three bites. In fact, I thought it had been quite still while I was holding it. Then I watched it very very carefully. Focusing on its head, and there it was, so dang fast it was a blur. Two more little holes. After that I let him have the snake back. There was no pain at all from these small pricks. Much less than a finger prick at the doctor. I thought it was neat. After that, though, I had no misconception that that snake was happy in captivity. ;)
 
I remember the show on the Fer de Lance and the Woman who was bitten.

I watch Venom ER when I can, because the places the experts go to get their snakes, and in some cases the isolated spots where hikers are bitten, are all places I knew when I lived in San Bernardino.




munk
 
munk said:
My God. Born in Trona.
I have walked the streets of Trona and I can say unto you:
"You gotta lotta snakes out there."


Jmings; are you familiar with Cuddleback dry bombing range? That area?





munk
Click to expand...

Sorry, Munk, not at all familiar with that. Most of the talk was Searles Dry Lake, The Pannimints (sp?) and Edward's AFB.

I noticed that Uncle Bill and I had a common aquantance - Seldom Seen Slim.:D

When you walked the streets of Trona did you have a gas mask? :barf:
 
I know the Panamints. (sic)

I still have maps from all those years I wandered the Mojave. Forget most of the names these days.

Every once in awhile you'd hear about Trona because they'd bring some guy spaced to the speed of light on meth out of there, and turn him over to Jail or the Psych Ward.

In the Spring there were many flowers and snakes.
All official buildings in Trona are worth photographing: the School, County building, etc, because where normally there are upkept institutional lawns and ivy, in TRONA it is nothing but Scorched Earth Well, OK, bare earth. So it makes a wry comment on man's endeavors. The land around Trona is dry, the soil without nourishment, even the Creosote shrub grows at some considerable distance from the next plant: little to share. Though it is in the Mojave desert the features are pure Great Basin Desert, and that ecosystem has less plants and animals of all North American deserts.
 
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