The Whole Town's Talking: Rattlesnake bites Lander man on lip, tongue

A pet rattlesnake bit its extremely drunk owner once on the finger while the man was playfully flicking its head, then bit him again on the lip and tongue after he attempted to kiss it, reports the Lander Journal.

According to Sgt. Gene Galitz's popular column "CopsCorner," the Lander man, identified as Rattlesnake Bob, was driven to the emergency room at the Lander Valley Medical Center on March 23 by his girlfriend. When he saw a patrol car at the hospital, he refused to get out, saying he hadn't had much luck with cops.

Galitz tried to persuade the man to seek medical attention, but the man refused. Luckily, the snake's bites did not inject venom.

"I'd bet the next morning the snake woke up with a hangover and Rattlesnake Bob woke up wondering who pierced his tongue and forgot to put in the decoration," Galitz wrote.

A while back I was browsing snake books in a pet store and came across an article on the care and feeding of boas. They're tropical snakes and need a tropical environment. They can also get to be quite large, about 12 feet. According to this article proper boa care required a cage about four feet on a side that could be kept at about 80% humidity and 80 degrees farenheit. Also, since snakes can't be housebroken, somebody (probably mama) has to go into the cage at least once a week to clean out snake waste. Then there's the little problem of keeping the mildew down in the snake's very moist and humid environment. The bottom line is that, if I were you, I'd be more inclided to get a less care intensive snake, like a North American Corn Snake, which is likely to grow to about 6 feet.

I actually have been thinking about a corn snake. I know first hand about the difficulties of keeping boas, having nursed my last one (back in the late 70s) through a bout of pneumonia (with attendant vet bills) due to improper climate conditions in the cage.

I appreciate your thoughts. I think you may be right about a corn snake. The local pet shop will be getting in a new shipment soon, and I will check it out. The thing I like about boas is that they move kind of slow, and are easy to handle in that respect. I have not had experiecne with a corn snake, but as you may know, some snakes -- like king snakes -- are not so mellow in the hands, and tend to movc rather more quickly and jerkily than boas.

If I like the way the corn snake moves, I will definitely choose that one over a boa. My last boa never got more than six feet, and at that length was still easily managed. I don't relish having one much bigger though, and I'm not sure it will be that easy to find someone who wants to adopt a 10-footer.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.