May 04, 2006
It wasnt the snakes fault
Inattentive hunter survives encounter with timber rattler
By John McCoy
Staff writer
As he reached across a fallen log to gather a handful of moss, Paul Harvey felt something sting the back of his right hand.
Harvey swiveled his head to find the source of the sting, and what he saw chilled his blood the catlike pupils and the flickering black tongue of a 5-foot timber rattlesnake.
I knew right away that I was in trouble, said the semi-retired coal miner. The nearest phone was 45 minutes drive away, and no one was around to help me.
Today, a full week after the snake struck, Harvey still feels the bites aftereffects. His right hand remains swollen and sore, his right arm bruised nearly to the armpit from internal hemorrhaging. His blood platelet count remains abnormal.
But at least hes alive, a prospect that looked pretty iffy on the morning of April 27.
I went out that morning with three things in mind, Harvey said. Hunting for turkeys, hunting for mushrooms and hunting for moss.
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I wasnt watching what I was doing, he said. I reached across a log to grab a piece of moss, but I had my head turned the wrong way and couldnt see where I was reaching.
The rattler nailed him as soon as his hand came into range.
It didnt start rattling until after it bit, Harvey said. Then it started buzzing up a storm.
The two fang marks on Harveys hand measured at least an inch and a half apart.
That was a big snake, said the 55-year-old. It was very dark, almost black, and its head was the size of my fist. Its body was as thick as my forearm. Coiled up, it was the size of a No. 3 washtub.
Before hed covered the 25 yards back to his truck, Harvey began to feel the venoms effects.
My lips and the tips of my fingers started to tingle, he said. By the time Id driven a mile, my peripheral vision was gone and everything ahead of me started to go blurry, just as if I was looking into the sun. Then I started getting nauseated.
For nearly 20 minutes, Harvey fought to control the truck as dizziness and waves of nausea racked his body. Id drive a while, then pull over and throw up for a while, he said.
Still less than halfway to the nearest civilization, Harvey realized that his situation had become dire. Stopped beside the road in his truck, he wondered if hed get out of the predicament alive.
Thats when my friend came along, he said.
Roger Kiser, a fellow turkey hunter from Swiss, pulled up behind Harveys truck to see what the problem was. I told him Id been bitten by a rattlesnake, Harvey said. He drove me the rest of the way to safety.
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They stopped in Koontz Bottom to call an ambulance. The ambulance took Harvey as far as Gauley Bridge, where a HealthNet helicopter picked him up and flew him to Charleston Area Medical Center.
By then, I was slipping in and out of consciousness, Harvey said. I dont remember much about the flight. All I saw was the sky.
Doctors at CAMC began pumping antivenin into him almost as soon as he arrived.
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The treatments pulled him through. He said his still-abnormal platelet count might spur doctors to administer more antivenin before they discharge him, but he hopes to return home pretty soon.
I cant wait to get back into the woods, he said. It wasnt the snakes fault that I got bit. I stuck my hand right where he was. The difference between this and all the other close calls Ive had is that I was more careless.
I can tell you one thing, though. Ill sure have a more respect for what rattlesnakes can do to me this time around.
