[SLB]

Our neighbor was bitten on the hand by a little rattler when I was about 6 or 7. I remember my dad going to the hospital to see him. His arm was huge and turned almost coal black. He had been poking a little stick at the snake and asked him (the snake) if he wanted to bite him. He obviously did. We had to do his chores twice a day for almost a month.

[libstripper]

Rattler venom is truly powerful stuff. It doesn't just break down blood cells to kill the victim by making the blood unable to carry oxygen--it's designed and intended to digest the victim from the inside out and dissolves the tissue it contacts. All of that makes it much easier for the rattler to digest a mouse or other animal which it kills.

[Cooter]

Baby rattlesnakes are not in control of the amount of venom they release. This makes their bites more dangerous than that of an adult, since they usually dump all of the venom they have into the bite.