Coral snake bites Jensen Beach woman while she gardens [WARNING: Contains nauseating stupidity!]

Sun-Sentinal.com ^ | 9/16/06 | James Kirley

[Slings and Arrows]

JENSEN BEACH -- A Jensen Beach woman was resting at home Friday after being bitten last week by a highly venomous coral snake while weeding under a bougainvillea bush in her front yard.

Patricia Facchini survived the potentially fatal bite after receiving several doses of antivenin serum and spending a night in the intensive care unit of Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart.

But Facchini said she was shocked to learn the medicine that helped her combat the snake's paralyzing poison was part of a dwindling supply...

[Slings and Arrows]

"It bit me and hung on for about two minutes," she said. "I thought, 'It looks pretty, so it can't be poisonous.'"

*goggle*

Coral snakes are rear-fanged, not aggressive, and pretty much have to grind their venom into a wound to get in enough to hurt a human. This woman must have had a big bowl of stupid for breakfast.

[Slings and Arrows]

Money quote in first post. Please pass the mental floss.

[VictoryGal]

I bet she picked up the dang thing ("ooooh! shiney, pretty!") and was messing with it. These are NOT aggressive as you say. Even a dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers cousin of mine survived poking at a coral for 5 minutes (he barely survived his dad whupping him for his stupidity, though).

[Richard Kimball]

There are several poisonous snakes in our area, western diamondback, copperhead and water moccasin. Coral snakes are further south, but in range. I don't care what kind of snake it is, I don't want it biting me AT ALL.

What a twit.

[steveo]

When I was a little steveo in Florida, my mom discovered a Water Moccasin on our patio. She called to police, they responded and promptly blew its head off. I was the big man and threw it in the creek out back for her.

[capt. norm]

I've run across coral snakes from time to time. They are not agressive...at least not normally, even when you pick them up.

She must have done something really stupid that didn't get into the report.

[Lancey Howard]

"Now, is that 'black meets red, you're dead', or 'yellow meets red, you're dead'? Let me think about this for a couple of minutes...."

[Slings and Arrows]

Even a dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers cousin of mine survived poking at a coral for 5 minutes (he barely survived his dad whupping him for his stupidity, though).

See?! They really are dangerous! ;^)

[Brilliant]

"she was shocked to learn the medicine that helped her combat the snake's paralyzing poison was part of a dwindling supply..."



I think that would probably not be the first thing I thought of.

[cripplecreek]

Red on yellow will kill a fellow

Red on black, you're OK Jack

[VictoryGal]

Water moccasins and cottonmouths are unbelievably nasty, and aggressive to boot. They WILL come after you. They're the reason my husband (when he was a boy growing up in Mississippi) always carried a gun when heading out to the pond to fish.

Corals are fuzzy little kittens in comparison.

[Brilliant]

"I'm concerned that they're not going to make the serum anymore," Facchini said.



I'm betting that she intentionally allowed it to biter her in order to dramatize this dire situation.

[Horatio Gates]

Crickey!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

What an idiot!!!!!!

[Experiment 6-2-6]

Or, in the vernacular of Texas:

Red 'n yeller can kill a feller!!

[verum ago]

I especially love the part where she feel a little bit ill from the antivenin. Talk about least of your worries!

[garyhope]

Read all about em here

http://www.wf.net/~snake/coral.htm

[Slings and Arrows]

Cute little booger. Sounds like it just wants to be left alone.

[Twinkie]

Red touch Yellow looking real fancy
Red touch Yellow could kill ol' Lancey
Red touch Black, don't be a coward,
Red touch Black won't hurt ol' Howard.

[Hong Kong Expat]

I'm a city boy so I stay the heck away from all snakes.

The Japanese used the Island where I live for breeding poisonous snakes during WWII. When they had to abandon HK they released all the snakes. The official word from the Doctors is if you get bitten by a snake, hunt down and kill it so they can give you the proper treatment.

Here's something that visited us today... (my girlfriend is too slow with her fancy camera)