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Posted by Bill S on April 26, 2006 at 5:25:49 pm EDT
In reply to Re: Rattle snake bites..... posted by Backcountry (Guest) on April 26, 2006 at 4:28:26 pm EDT

Ya know, NaSha's question goes all the way back to Ed's original post:

"Some say that the venom of the snake is deadly and will kill a human in average health within hours and some say that is not at all true and one can go days without medical treatment and not die."

Ed said, at one point, that no one had really answered his question. The answer, Ed, is "yes". Both extremes are true. As I posted for NaSha, it all depends on the species (you specified generic rattlesnake) and the amount of venom injected. As Brian posted, Mojave rattlers injecting a full load of venom can kill even someone in good health within hours. On the other hand, with other varieties of rattler and with little or no envenomation (which is the case for the majority of rattlesnake bites, according to the published statistics), you don't have to treat at all (a major reason to NOT use the old slash and suck method). In some varieties of rattler, the venom is very weak for humans. The only way to tell for sure is to watch the progress - if you die within hours, you should have gotten treatment, but if you live and have no symptoms, then you don't need treatment.

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• Re: Rattle snake bites..... - Ed G 11:12:48 04/27/2006

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