After NorCal rattlesnake bite, man needs 54 doses of antivenom to survive...One bite sent venom directly into his bloodstream.

SF Gate ^ | July 10, 2026 | Gillian Mohney, News Editor

[Red Badger]

An Idaho man visiting his parents in Oroville thought he had stepped on a sharp sticker plant or thistle when he looked down to see a rattlesnake at his feet instead.

“I got bit twice, and one of the bites, where it was was kind of a shallow, but the other one got my vein,” Chris Howarth told SFGATE. “... I went inside. My wife thought I was joking.”

But when Chris showed his wife his leg, she and their young children started “freaking out.”

Chris had just stepped into his parents’ backyard to check the waterline when he was bitten on May 26. The bites happened as California saw a spring increase in rattlesnake activity following a March heat wave this year, with three people dying due to rattlesnake bites and at least 249 bites reported as of early July.

Chris’ wife Jenny Howarth immediately drove him to the Oroville Hospital about 15 minutes away. By the time they arrived, he was already showing signs of a reaction to the venom, including a numb tongue, swollen lymph nodes and difficulty breathing. While he was able to receive the antivenom in about an hour, the ordeal didn’t end there.

One of the puncture wounds was deeper, meaning venom from the snake went “directly into his bloodstream,” Jenny said.

For days at Oroville Hospital, Chris said he felt like he was on a roller coaster as antivenom would help clear his symptoms only for them to return hours later.

On the third day, despite the doses of antivenom, Chris developed a dangerous blood clotting condition, disseminated intravascular coagulation, leaving him at risk of bleeding out. He was getting platelets and antivenom to help control the condition, but on day six, the hospital ran out.

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TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Weather
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[Mean Daddy]

BIL used to pull irrigation motors in west Nebraska and they were required to wear heavy leather gloves because the snakes would crawl into the pit seeking the warmth of the motor. Said he pulled up a couple rattlesnakes on that job.

[neverevergiveup]

That’s all I need, a pissed-off poisonous snake coming after me..

[1FreeAmerican]

Maui and the Hawaiian Islands have that same distinction.

Now living in Utah and we have snakes in our yard. Harmless Garter snakes, but snakes none the less.

[ansel12]

With rattlesnakes the effectiveness of the strikes vary, which is why we get the nothing happened, or not so bad stories.

The snake may strike more as a warning or annoyance and not expend venom or much of it, or it may have just made a big kill, or it may be loaded up with plenty of venom and dump it all into you, and I assume where it’s fangs get you can make a difference as well.

[1FreeAmerican]

I grew up in the Antelope Valley and know this snake well!

My buddy and I would wander the desert behind out house and were always on the watch for those guy’s. If we caught one we’d get $50 bucks for it.

Big and fast!

[TBall]

Interesting, I just did a search on the Mojave Green rattlesnake and it says not aggressive.

[Bob434]

Still way cheaper than tranny surguries, and worth the p4ice because you get to live a normal life if you survive, unlike with the tranny surgeries-they be messed up for life

[GMThrust]

You just ruined my morning. Back to reality :(

[GMThrust]

It’s a bigger target to try and shoot with my 44 mag or rifle. Besides, it doesn’t slither. Something about slithering that creeps me out. That’s probably why I despise liberals so much.

[Antioch]

We have a cottage on Georgian Bay and the area is full of Massissauga rattlesnakes. It’s a rocky area that snakes thrive in. Fortunately, the medical and treatment here is free, so no mortgaging the house to survive a bite.

[Vaduz]

Good deal

[Vaduz]

Yes