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Re: [RC] rattlesnake season - heidiI have very limited experience with treating rattlesnake bites, but did work on a horse last year in Colorado who needed an emergency tracheotomy (hole cut into the trachea down along the neck) to breathe. He'd been bitten square on the nose and both nostrils were completely blocked---I would think that a hose up one or both nostrils would have been a very helpful thing for him, had not the owner gotten him into the hospital pronto. JME, though, not sure if this was the exception or the rule. I've been in rattlesnake country all my life, but have been fortunate that all of the horses I've treated have been bitten on legs. But calves--that's another story--suffocation and/or dehydration from not being able to drink due to the swollen mouth/face are the main things that kill calves bitten in the face. If we get them quick enough, keeping an airway open in the first thing we do--but too often they aren't found soon enough. Even with dogs bitten in the face, the faces swell up like soccer balls sometimes--had one that was rushed in (thank goodness) that nearly strangled because his owner had not thought to remove his collar when his head started to swell up! At least dogs are natural and efficient panters, so usually don't have quite as much difficulty breathing. Heidi ============================================================ By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest. ~ Confucius ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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