Posted on 06/13/2016 7:13:31 PM PDT by Gamecock
COLUMBIA, SC A Columbia-area conservationist died after suffering a snake bite at a Clarendon County wildlife preserve over the weekend.
Wayne M. Grooms, a 71-year-old West Columbia resident, was a Lexington County Soil and Water Conservation district commissioner who was locally well regarded for his knowledge of the natural world.
A rattlesnake bit Grooms late Sunday afternoon while he was visiting Santee National Wildlife Refuge, according to the Clarendon County Coroner’s Office. Grooms died within 15 minutes of the snake bite, but a cause of death has not been determined.
Grooms had a medical condition and an autopsy is to be performed Tuesday at the Medical University of South Carolina, Coroner Hayes Samuels said, declining to disclose the condition.
If it is determined that Grooms died from a snakebite, it would be highly unusual. Only about a half-dozen people are killed nationally each year after being struck by venomous snakes. Samuels said his office rarely has had a call like the one it took Sunday afternoon.
Samuels said the rattler struck Grooms as he was making his way to Lake Marion with a friend in the Cuddo section of the wildlife preserve. After the snake struck Grooms on the lower left leg, the friend tried to help him to the car, but he collapsed and died about 3:55 p.m., Samuels said.
The area of the wildlife refuge where the incident occurred is known as Alligator Alley. It is about seven miles south of Summerton and four miles north of Santee. The Santee National Wildlife Refuge is a 13,000-acre federal preserve established in 1941.The property is southeast of Columbia below Interstate 95.
Grooms, who was born in Australia, was a Vietnam veteran and former employee with Commercial Mass Metals, according to the Lexington County Soil and Water Conservation District and Grooms’ Facebook page. He studied at the University of South Carolina. Two years ago, he was elected to the conservation district board after volunteering with the organization for several years, according to the district.
“I was devastated; this was just so unexpected,’’ said Tina Blum, administrative assistant with the Soil and Water Conservation District. “Wayne was a good guy all around.’’
Kathy Hensley, a soil and water conservation commissioner with Grooms, said he volunteered at the Peachtree Rock Heritage Preserve in Lexington County and was a self-taught naturalist. Every year, he volunteered to speak at schools on Arbor Day and planted trees with the children, she said. Grooms leaves behind a wife and son, she said.
Grooms’ Facebook page was filled Monday with tributes of his life.
“Wayne was a long-time friend of mine and he just filled a void on the conservation district board,’’ Hensley said. “His knowledge about botany and the natural world was just phenomenal.’’
Snake bite response
Most snakes are not venomous and relatively few people die from snake bites. For anyone who is bitten by a venomous snake, the Mayo Clinic and Web MD recommend the following:
-- Move beyond the snake’s striking distance
-- Clean the wound, but do not flush with water.
-- Cover the wound with a clean, dry dressing
-- Don’t drink caffeine or alcohol, which can speed up the rate at which the body absorbs venom
-- Seek medical attention as soon as possible
-- Take note of the type of snake so that a description can be provided to medical staff
That happened to me a couple of years ago, but I didn't quite make the pivot to forward due to tripping over a lawnmower. Landed very hard, fractured my arm, in addition to getting stung. Knew it as soon as I hit the ground, even though I'd never fractured or broken anything larger than a finger before.
Sounds like the new approach is “Dear God, don’t let me die. “
What happened to the tourniquet, cutting two “X”s over the punctures, and sucking out the poison?
Awesome! Lol
Holy Smokes!!!
“I have read that places in the American South West have so many sidewinders that you will see them daily.”
I know of 3 areas not far from me here in SW New Mexico where I could go and find a rattler within minutes. In some areas they’re just really prolific.
What happened to the tourniquet, cutting two “X”s over the punctures, and sucking out the poison?
= = = = = = = = = =
Which reminds me of a certain tale that the punch line is
“What did the Dr say”?
“You gonna die boy, you gonna die”
==
IF you know, you know....
“Also the person who sucked the poison out should not have a cut or sore in their mouth.”
Yeah, mouth sores are a buzzkill in a lot of situations, unless you’ve been at sea for a long time.
Doesn't sound like an "envirowacko" to me. Anyone can get bit by a snake, why gloat? Real conservationism is conservative.
I never had any snake chase me but my husband did. I heard him yelling from the garage and when I went out there he was on top of the truck because a water moccasin chased him.
I was sitting in the yard with my boys while they were playing in their sand pile. A coral snake literally flew out of the grass into the sand pile. I killed it with one of their toy trucks.
I have been confronted with rattlesnakes and all kinds of snakes mostly all poisonous and I killed them all for the safety of my children . Not sorry.
If I had known how many snakes were on that piece of wooded property where we built our first house I never would have built there. As it turn out only a dog was bitten.
Was walking the neighborhood streets with my wife, in NC, and there was a huge water moccasin lying in the road. I picked up a stick and confronted it, like any macho man would.
That snake rose up and balanced on the last foot of it’s tail and started swaying back and forth, looking me right in the eyes as if to say, “You think you bad with that little stick, come on if you got the balls, boy”.
I put the stick down and backed away. That snake was a badass!
I can believe that. I had a rattlesnake do that to me. It was small for a rattler, about 3 to 4 feet long and it actually bounced up on is tail while it wriggled around the whole time hissing at me.
If I had only had a camera.........but I didn’t, I had a deer rifle so I shot it.
There is a painting done by either Remington or Russel, of Indians in some kind of ceremony with snakes dancing on their tails. I don’t know if I saw the painting in one of my art books or a museum, wish I could find it again.
No one that I have told that story to as ever seen the same thing.
Had a buddy that kept a python as a pet. Said he opened the door to the room it was in one night and the snake was up on its’ tail and swaying back and forth, looking out the window at the full moon.
He described it as damn scary . Oh ... and his cat was always nervous.
Did the cat survive, I hope?
The rattler that danced for me actually came up off the ground as it wiggled.
It was rattling but didn’t have many rattles so the sound I heard was hissing.
Frightening few minutes for me but it could have been worse. I had been sitting in a tree, deer hunting. When I saw poachers climbing over the fence. I was closer to the water hole and they were on the hill above me. I was afraid I would be shot by them so I climbed down to walk back to camp. The shots I fired at the snake scared the poachers and they took off.
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