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Posted on 07/10/2026 9:33:32 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
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From the photos of his leg, that was a big snake.
I was running in a canyon in southern California and saw what I thought was a small log across the path ahead. I would have just stepped over it, but then saw it was a rattlesnake when it cocked its head to look at me. I turned around and went back the direction I came from.
He didn’t even get superpowers from this? What a ripoff.
When I lived in Hong Kong there was a huge cobra in the driveway of my apartment block. I told the security guard and he said “yeah. I saw it”. Lol. Eventually the thing went somewhere to get out of the sun.
Wow! If I saw a cobra in my driveway I think I’d just stay home that day.
One of the many reasons I like living in Alaska-no snakes.
Today I learned there are no wild snakes in Alaska. Your comment drove me to read more, and it was confirmed. 🍺🙂
“One of the many reasons I like living in Alaska-no snakes.”
That definitely was a plus for me when I lived there.
You just gotta worry about the grizzy bears and wolves : )
Sure about that?
“Wow! If I saw a cobra in my driveway I think I’d just stay home that day.”
I’ve had lots of cobras in my driveway. Carroll Shelby
Now you know why cowboys and settlers wore hot, uncomfortable boots.
LOL! Yes, I wouldn’t mind one of those Cobras in my driveway..
I was a visitor sailing on the intercoastal waterway a couple years ago and almost stepped on a water moccasin in the grass at our dock. Only or later did I find out that without insurance treatment for a moderate bite would’ve been $100,000 out-of-pocket and for a severe bite $300,000.
This runs contrary to what we've always been taught about rattlesnake bites. I've been snake bitten twice in my life, but not by a rattlesnake. (Cottonmouth and copperhead) But, both times I never got to a hospital. We've always been taught that rattlesnakes leave a really nasty scar and their bite destroys tissue. However they were rarely fatal. I've heard from emergency room personnel that the danger from a rattlesnake bite is the person could suffer a heart attack from the fear of being bitten.
I got bit by a bat and the psychological effect of even the slightest chance of getting rabies is almost disabling. There is something primordial about the fear of rabbies.
Getting attacked by a grizzly bear is so much better.
Agree
In the United States, a single vial of snake antivenom typically costs between $1,200 and $6,400 at wholesale price, but hospital retail markups often drive patient billing to $9,000 to $14,000 per vial. Because a single snakebite treatment requires a large quantity of medicine—usually a starting dose of 4 to 10 vials—the total cost for the medication alone routinely spans $40,000 to $100,000+. When combined with emergency care, ICU stays, and specialist fees, full hospital bills for a venomous snakebite frequently range from $50,000 to over $200,000
THERE IS A SUB+SPECIES OF RATTLESNAKE CALLED “THE MOJAVE GREEN.”
IT IS VERY AGGRESSIVE & IT WILL COME AFTER YOU.
RIDING NEAR LAKE HUGHES MANY YEARS AGO WITH A FRIEND ON WIDE FIRE ROAD. STARTED DOWNHILL-—OTHER RIDER SAID, TURN AROUND & WE WILL GO ANOTHER DIRECTION...
THE SNAKE WAS COMING UP THE HILL AT US AT A VERY RAPID RATE-—WE WENT A DIFFERENT TRAIL
NOT SMALL & VERY AGGRESSIVE.......
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