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I found Karen Chaton's links about snakes very informative and must confess
to also being more concerned that I might accidentally get shot by somebody
with a gun who is worried about snakes than I am about accidentally getting
bitten by a rattlesnake, even an 'aggressive' Mojave Green. :)

To quote from her links:

"The most venomous snake in the desert, the Mojave is often called the "most
aggressive." But even the Mojave would rather flee than fight - why waste a
lot of energy on something too big to eat?"

And:
"Sex: Males are bitten more commonly than females.
Age: Young adults are most commonly bitten.
Causes: A large percentage of bites occur when the snake is handled, kept as
a pet, or abused. These bites are considered interactive."

And about rattlesnakes in general:
"Many bites are associated with ethanol use."

This does not mean that you won't get bitten by a rattlesnake if you
surprise it; although, in my experience, even that is unlikely, since both
me an my horse have actually stepped on them without incident (and it was a
toss up over who was more scared, me or the snake...the horse didn't give a
shit; I have yet to have a horse that even notices snakes). If you surprise
it, it is more likely to rattle (i.e. warn you that you have stuck your foot
somewhere too close) than it is to bite you. And of the, literally, hundreds
of snakes that I have encountered, even Mojave Greens, I have yet to be
chased by one.

Which is why most rattlesnake bites are suffered by young adult men who are
at least a little bit drunk.

You don't need a gun to defend yourself against rattlesnakes; if you throw
rocks at them or poke them with a long stick they will run away.  You don't
even need a gun to kill them (if that is your bent...I only kill the ones
who set up residence under the water trough or in the hay barn), they can,
fairly easily, be killed with a big stick (or they can even be provoked into
killing themselves, which is what happened to the last one who was sunning
itself in my arena.  I threw rocks at it to get it to run away and it
reached around and struck at the rock...and bit itself :)).

My former experience as an EMT (and from conversations with my former
roommate who was an ER nurse) suggests that most of the damage associated
with rattlesnake bites (most of which happen to people who were playing with
the snake) is caused more by the things that people do when they get bit by
a snake than by the snakebite itself (including shooting themselves in the
foot with the gun that they carried to shoot any snakes they may come
across:)).

To quote from Karen's emergency medicine link:

"Prehospitalization care:
...No benefit was demonstrated when a negative pressure venom extraction
device (eg, The Extractor from Sawyer Products) was evaluated in recent
studies. Incision across fang marks is not recommended. Mouth suction is
contraindicated.
...Lymphatic constriction bands and pressure immobilization techniques may
inhibit the spread of venom, but whether they improve outcome is not clear.
These techniques actually may be deleterious for pit viper envenomation if
they increase local necrosis. Tourniquets are not recommended.
First aid techniques that lack therapeutic value or are potentially more
harmful than the snakebite include electric shock, alcohol, stimulants,
aspirin, ice application, and various folk and herbal remedies...
Although it may be helpful to identify the snake in suspected Mojave
rattlesnake bites, attempts to secure or kill the snake are not recommended
because of the risk of additional injury."

The "scarring, muscle loss, nerve damage and amputation often result" from
rattlesnake bites are far more likely to be far more serious if you have cut
the wound to try to suck the venom out or if you further compromise
circulation by applying a tourniquets (or other constriction bands) to
reduce the spread of the venom or by applying ice to reduce the swelling
(probably the biggest cause of problems).

I keep my horses in a place where I see a rattlesnake at least a couple of
times a week (during snake season which is at its height right now), I
encounter them on or near the trail pretty much every time I go out for more
than a couple of miles (depending on the time of day), and I KNOW that they
are out there in my pasture with my horses; and I know that my horses don't
even look up from their grazing even when the snake is only a few feet away
and rattling.

And while this is how my horses are most likely to get bit and suffer
serious consequences from it, I don't allow myself to worry about it because
it would serve no purpose other than to make me a nervous wreck.  I can't
keep the snakes out of my pasture and I am unwilling to keep my horses out
of my pasture.

I do, however, warn people that there are snakes out there (and in there,
since one of their favorite hangouts is the hay barn) and to make a lot of
noise, and I suggest that they not bring their dog (since dogs are much more
likely to a) provoke the snake and b) suffer serious consequences from being
bit).

The best defense against being seriously injured or killed by a rattlesnake
is to understand them and to not do any of the ill-advised things that are
frequently recommened.

Rattlesnakes are not agressive, they are extremely timid.  Understanding
their timidity is the best way to avoid getting bit because they only bite
(something bigger than dinner) when they are extremely frightened and feel
that they have no other avenue of escape.  Or if you surprise them so that
they don't have any time to think before they react (although it is bites
from a startled snake that are the least likely to have any envenomation).

They are defensive biters.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  Oh yeah, and they aren't slow either.  They are one of the fastest
snakes around.  One of the world's favorite snake control devices is the
mongoose, but they don't work on rattlesnakes, because rattlesnakes are too
fast for a mongoose.





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