Necessity of a Venom Extractor

[*zap*]

Been struck 2x in Kansas by copperheads in the fall bow hunting. One time on a snake boot and one time just got my pant so no bite. Their camo matches the fallen leaves and their self defense is to lay still so if you step on them or next to them it can be bad news. I wear snake gaiters on trails and chaps in the woods/fields. Seen a ton of timber rattlers but no bad issues,,,,

 

[Tbonespop]

Mo

Not an issue for you but, the desert SW has the diamond back and the Mojave. The diamond back is a hemotoxic venom while the Mojave is neurotoxic. The Mojave is the deadlier of the two. For dogs treatment is required within 20 mins, for humans it is a little longer. We always carry Benadryl. While I have never had to take any or give it to my dogs, it is said to give you a little extra time to get to medical attention. I was hunting with a friend and he got hit just above his boot. I got the boot of right away and got him to treatment in about an hour. He spent ten days in hospital but he did survive.

The Mojave's are both hematoxin and neutrotoxin, and are extremely dangerous. I've lived in the desert southwest for 24 years, and have easily seen and encountered +200 rattlers between hiking, camping, hunting, mountain biking, and motocross.

One of the key things is rattlers by nature are very docile - amazingly calm and non-aggressive. They rarely rattle unless you piss them off. I'd bet that <20% of the rattlers I've come across were rattling. Most wouldn't until I messed with them, which was me usually trying to just shoe them off of the path so they and I went our own separate ways.

I wear snake gaiters when bird and mule deer hunting. Hot as hell, but I have assurance I don't have to worry about it. It allows me to keep my eyes up and not always looking down at the ground. Its better to hunting when I can be focused on the hunt and not avoiding snakes.

Since rattle snakes strike as a defense mechanism, about half of the bites are dry bites. So if you get bit, don't panic and get the heart rate up. Realize there's about a 50% chance you didn't get venom. Keeping the heart rate down slows the process of venom spreading throughout the body if you do get venom. As others have said, don't waste time with some device designed to suck out the poison. Whatever you do, don't put on a tourniquet, that will concentrate the venom in the bite area and increase risk of amputation. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated as the venom will naturally dehydrate you. I always have some benadryl as there is a legit risk of allergic reaction. Then just focus on getting to the hospital as fast as you can, generally within 4 hours or less. That's about all that can be done.

 

[TxxAgg]

We saw a rattler crossing the road about 7500' on our first elk hunt in Colorado. Don't care to see another one, but we usually see a few every year here in TX.