Posted on 09/22/2007 11:18:58 AM PDT by girlangler
Fishing writer survives bite from deadly snake
By JOHN RUDOLF
LAKE HAVASU NEWS-HERALD
LAKE HAVASU - It took only a split-second to turn an idyllic day fishing on Lake Havasu into an excruciating encounter with one of the deadliest creatures in nature.
Early on the morning of Sept. 11, Doug Busey, 49, the Tahoe Daily Tribune's longtime fishing writer, stepped off of a friend's fishing boat to snap a few photos from a beach on the lake's California side. He knelt down to get a better angle on a cactus, and a dark blur jumped out at it him. Only then did he hear the rattle and see a snake coiled on the ground before him. Blood spurted from two gashes on his left ring finger.
"I can still see it," Busey said. "That familiar tail. ... It had about six buttons on it."
Friend Steve Lightfoot raced him to the hospital, where doctors quickly administered 12 vials of anti-venom, potentially saving his life. Nevertheless, the pain was excruciating.
"It feels like your hand wants to explode," Busey said. "They gave me something for the pain after I started screaming a little."
The tattoo of a cobra, fangs exposed, on Busey's right arm did not evade the watchful eye of the nurses at Havasu Regional Medical Center. "They asked, 'Is that what I think it is?'" Busey said.
With beaches, palm trees, sparkling blue waters and some of the best fishing in the Southwest, Lake Havasu and its surrounding wilderness is an outdoor paradise. But this oasis lies in the middle of a vast desert, home to some of the most venomous snakes in the United States, and it can take only a little bad luck to bring you face to face, or face to fang, with a snake packing enough venom to kill a horse.
Poisonous snakes bite about 8,000 people in the United States each year, and only about 2 percent of those bites are fatal, according to Food and Drug Administration statistics. Permanent scarring and loss of limbs can also result, although with rapid treatment by anti-venom, a full recovery can generally be expected. The deadliest bites are those close to the heart or on a major vein or artery.
Between 30 and 40 percent of rattlesnake bites are "dry," meaning the snake has injected no venom, said herpetologist Dr. Gordon Burns of Kingman.
The most toxic rattlesnake in North America is the Mojave rattlesnake, known as the Mojave green for its light green coloration. Its bite is particularly deadly because it packs a powerful neurotoxin, which acts on the nervous system, as well as the more common hemotoxin, which actually dissolves tissue where it is injected. The Mojave is common in the Lake Havasu region.
Because of its neurotoxin, a person bitten by a Mojave green may feel no pain for the first 20 minutes or so, Burns said, but that should be no reason not to seek immediate help.
There are a number of myths about what to do after a poisonous snakebite, Burns said. But whether it is the "cut-and-suck" method or wrapping a tourniquet around the affected limb, most folk remedies do more harm than good, he said. Only the administration of anti-venom will reliably reverse the effects of the poison.
There are several other things to avoid. One is getting excited or panicked, which speeds up the heartbeat and increases the circulation of venom through the body. Elevating a bitten leg or lying down is also a big mistake. "Keep the bitten area below the level of the heart," Burns said.
Some members of the population have also missed the bulletin that it is not wise to tangle with rattlesnakes, Burns said.
"Probably 50 percent of bites are going to be young to middle-aged white males," he said. "We call them 'interactive bites' because they're messing with the snake."
Not surprisingly, alcohol plays a major role in these encounters.
"I had one guy who saw one going under a pile of hay, and he grabbed it by the tail and tried to pull it out," Burns said. "As the story evolves, it turns out he had drank a couple of beers."
With each vial of anti-venom costing more than $2,000, deliberately tangling with a snake can be costly as well as a life-endangering proposition.
In other cases, such as Busey's, a snakebite is simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there was a lesson to be learned even in his purely accidental encounter, Busey said.
"You can just get caught up in the scenery," Busey said. "You've got to remember that beyond those beautiful green trees is desert, and there are some of nature's deadliest animals out there."
This is not Busey's first run-in with dangerous wildlife this summer. In June, a marauding brown bear damaged his truck and boat and attacked his tent with him sleeping inside. Now with a rattlesnake bite added to his woes, fishing buddy Lightfoot offered Busey some blunt advice.
"You've got to quit pissing off the wildlife," he said.
Editor's note: Busey was hospitalized for a day and has since returned home to Minden and resumed work at Lowe's in Carson City. Swelling has gone down in his left hand, but his ring finger remains red, black and blue and he is unable to move it. "My spirits are high and I'm praying that my insurance is as good as it's been in the past," said Busey, pointing out that each vile of anti-venom costs $2,600. "If not, I'm going to be selling fishing rods and reels.
"It was a frightening experience and without the expediency of people at the hopsital and my friend Steve (Lightfoot), I might not be sitting here."
To contact Busey to wish him well, phone (775) 267-9722.
Reminds me of the story about the hunter who dropped his drawers in the woods to answer nature’s call when a rattlesnake bit him on his exposed butt. His friends said for him to stay calm and they would go for help. They got the ER doc on the phone and were told they would have to make a small cut near each fang puncture and suck out the poison or their friend would not survive. They rushed back to find their friend already very sick and weak. He whispered to them with labored breathing “what did the doctor say?” The friend who had talked with the doc just shook his head sadly and said “the doctor said you are going to die.”
Rattle snakes and fishing don’t go together at all, especially when your kid decides to test the drag on his reel when your walking in tall grass....
I’ve had dogs bitten by both. Neither was particular any big deal. Now, if it had been ME bitten maybe a bigger deal!
We did have a *funny* story about a cottonmouth (water moccosin) trying to slither into the house. My husband, who had no idea what kind of snake it was grabbed it by the tail and slung it back out into the yard. It tried to bite him as it went by, but missed. When I saw what it was, we killed it with a hoe and I said, “Honey, that’s a poisonous snake!” He wasn’t too pleased, but it was better than having a snake loose in the house!
susie
A few years ago, some lady not too far from here picked up a baby rattler because she thought it was cute, lol.
You have to look closely smack dab in the middle of this pic to see the balled up rattler that I almost touched as I was checking the little pepper plant beneath the dwarf grapefruit.
I never backleaped so quick in my life...once I whacked him with my mutt-hoe, I found him to be almost a four footer.
I stepped on a small copperhead when I was 16 while I was walking through the woods. It bit me near the arch of my foot through my tennis shoe. My dad called the doctor when I got home (I’d cut the snake’s head off and put it in my shirt pocket so he could ID it) and asked the doc what he should do. The doc asked him how far I’d walked to get home and he told him about 10 miles. The doc said to put some ice on it and bring me to town in the morning for a tetnus shot and some antibiotics. Guess it was one of those bites when the snake didn’t get its fangs locked. It never hurt, just itched.
Evil stuff.
And that’s probably some 30yo white dude messin with it too, lol.
Where do I send my therapist’s bills...
Photograph by Bill Snead
Hands Full of Trouble—Dewy Chafin a preacher in the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia holds two fistfuls of rattlesnakes during snake-handling church services in 1991. Dewey has been “bit” by poisonous snakes over 116 times, treating his wounds only with prayer.
Let’s not forget this classic thread... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/735901/posts
My ex did that, went behind some bushes, and I heard her say, “Bob, come quick, snake”. She was squatting right over a 4+ foot Diamondback. I took her hands and just jerked her out of there. Good thing she didn’t pee on the damned thing. It was in early December, the snake was a little chilled and sluggish, wouldn’t have been a good idea to warm it up.
My big Lab was bitten by a venomous snake (it got away) - probably not a copperhead, probably a moccasin but could possibly have a been a rattler. The vet was very blase', said he'd never lost a dog to snakebite. It was very swollen for 24 hours then went away with no ill effects.
Copperheads don't have big fangs, they have to gnaw on you awhile to get any venom into you at all. My son was hit by a copperhead while running cross country -- it was apparently a "dry bite" because he never even swelled up.
Rattlers, corals and copperheads here in Texas
To deal with the possibility of snake-bite, they always carry a case of scotch.
To make sure the scotch doesn't go to waste, they usually pack, at least, a half-case of snakes.
* Note: Snakes come 24 to the case. Always check the count.
"Thou shalt not put the LORD thy God to the test."
Most of them must be with their new owners by now. Which one or ones did you wind up keeping?
I so enjoyed the Puppy Cam.
But probably more water moccasins. Ick.
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