World Champion 'Snake Man' Killed by Cobra

Reuters ^ | Mon, Mar 22, 2004

[presidio9]

Thailand's Boonreung Buachan, holder of the Guinness Book of World Records title for spending the most time penned up with snakes, was killed by a cobra that bit him during his daily show, a hospital doctor said on Monday.

Boonreung, 34 and dubbed Snake Man, was rushed unconscious to Prai Bung Hospital near his home town, 350 miles northeast of Bangkok, Dr Wipa Praituan told Reuters.

"He was brought here with no signs of life. He wasn't breathing and his heart didn't beat," she said.

Boonreung was listed by the "Guinness Book of World Records" in 1998 after living with snakes in a glass box for seven days.

An epileptic, he went into convulsions after being bitten, but no one took him to the hospital initially because they thought he was suffering an epileptic fit.

Boonreung's father said he would give his son's 30 snakes to a zoo because nobody in the family dared deal with them.

[xsrdx]

Now, why did I expect a black mamba to be black?

So named because the inside of it's mouth - the last thing you see before you check out - is black.

The Black Mamba is what people who fear snakes have nightmares about, a full on monster.

Huge, fast, very very strong, venomous, and yes, it really IS trying to kill you.

[Area51]

There was some "famous" snake handler that loved to work with the vipers of South America. Watched a show or two of his on Discovery Channel.

I don't remember his name, but I did hear that he got bit while in the field last summer or fall and he died.

I think he was Prof. of herpatology or what ever they call themselves besides Darwin candidates at a University.

[Van Jenerette]

...for Pet Class reading.

[Cuttnhorse]

I worked for a couple of years in the bush in northern Tanzania, very near Lake Victoria...we had LOTS of black mambas around...and puff adders and at least two types of cobras plus green mambas. The lads were always offing mambas, they were amazingly plentiful and used to make me nevous walking back to my hooch after dark. I always brought food so the camp dog would tag along...he was very weary of snakes and was a good alarm.

They give me the willies.

[Feiny]

I have a friend who used to own one. He also owned the largest cobra in captivity. His friend opened the black mamba cage to feed it, but had not isolated the snake first (IDIOT!).

That snake flew out of the cage ... straight up in the air .... and across the room. My friend said he has never been more frightened in his entire life. The idiot & another friend left the house because they were so scared. My friend had no choice, but to stay & catch it. His wife and child would be getting home soon. He chased that snake around the apartment for quite some time....then the snake started chasing him! Luckily, he was finally able to capture it in a bag and then got rid of the snake.

I cannot believe anyone would be so foolish as to keep deadly animals as pets anyway. Both the Mamba & the Cobra are now kept in a pet store (but in the back and away from anyone except the owner).

[Amalie]

As a photographer, I had a chance to shoot photos in a venom lab. The gentleman in charge of this operation had survived several serious bites (Cape cobra, king cobra, a couple of viper bites). He stated that he might handle 150-200 snakes a DAY in doing venom extractions, since any attempt to force venom from the snakes would proven to cause not only damage but also altered the way the venom was composed (the venom is mixed from a couple of different sources in the gland as the snake strikes). Therefore, it would require that much work just to get a couple of grams of dried venom. Anyway, he and I both agreed that the 13-foot black mamba did not need to be removed for photos; we did run one shot of him in front of its cage when the story ran in REPTILES magazine. By far, it was the most treacherous animal in his 1000-plus assortment.

The antivenin is a real problem. For non-native snakes, it is classified as an experimental drug since it has not passed FDA muster; importing it is a nightmare. The shelf life is only a couple of years. At upwards of $1000.00 a vial, and a major bite requiring as much as 30 vials, and the fact that no doctor in his right mind will administer an expired experminental drug, most ‘hot’ hobbyists will take their chances. Many zoos have dropped their more exotic venomous species for the same reason.

BTW, if that mamba was loose in a big city in southern Ohio, that story has been around for a while. Luckily, no one got hurt. If you own one, live in the US without antivenin, and get bitten by it, you are in BIG trouble healthwise....

[Feiny]

No, the mamba was loose in my friends house in Virginia many years ago. He used to be in the reptile sales business. Now, he breeds dogs....much safer!

[rmlew]

1. I wrote a similar story about a coven of witches (actually Darwin-award winning teens) in high school. Yours is much better. (for some reason the teacher did not believe that this was enough of a horror story or that snakes could survive the winter by making use of steam vents and sweres.)

2. Black mamabas and Taipans make the recent exotic animals found in NYC seem almost benign. (2 Caymans, 1 Bengal Tiger {this one scared the police!}, 2 tarantulas, and some scorpions). Personally, I'll stick to dogs, cats, and hamsters.

[Feiny]

Check out this site for a great story about Jack Seale and his Snake and Animal Park outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

Jack twice lived for weeks at his animal park in a small room with black mambas and other snakes.

www.nwf.org/internationalwildlife/mamba.html

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Darwin Award

[spetznaz]

What is the "shelf life" for a neuro-toxic anti-venom?

Ballpark 60 days. Any longer its efficacy starts to get questionable. There might be new developments in this area, but 60 days used to be the rule of thumb.

How is it stored? Temperature dependent? Special containers, ie vials or prefilled syringe? How is it administered? IV of IM?

Normally in powered form for storage for some time (60 days). Antivenin is normally freeze-dried and stored. Whenever it is needed a diluent is added. I do know that for short trips to the bush some polyvalent antivenins do come in small vials that have already had the diluent (bacteriostatic water) added, but if not used those ones have to be thrown away on getting home.

Can it be self-administered?

You'd have to be a trained medical professional to do that (or a the very least trained in how to use it). In most nations a person cannot just have some laying around, and one cannot just go and buy antivenin(again in most countries). The risk for allergic shocks leading to anaphylactic shock and death are too great. And what you use for a coral snake is different from what you use for a Cottonmouth. Also many people might inject themselves even after been tagged by a non-venomous snake. Technically speaking a competent person can do it, but the possibility of that happening is not too great and the person better know what they are doing. Too many people would kill themselves.

And one more reason why self-administering antivenin is a death wish. For major bites over 30 vials may have to be used. Over 30. I know that for Mamba bites double the dosage for cobras is used. Those are going to be many vials. And guess what. There has to be a time interval between vials .....15 to 20 minutes per vial! Very few people would have the presence of mind to do that after being tagged .....and even if they did they might be unconscious or writhing in pain long before that. Basically when bitten a person needs to go to the hospital.

Your scenario with all of those kids being bitten. Can they really do that?

No. A single mamba would not tag so many people. It's venom is toxic enough, but the snake would have to possess amazing intelligence to know exactly how much venom to inject, and to measure it out. Obviously that is not possible. A single mamba bite to one person may contain enough venom to kill several people, and on the other hand it might be a 'dry bite' where the snake does not inject any venom at all. I know of 2 documented cases (that's important because there are all sorts of silly tales out there) of mambas killing several people, but 25 (and even much less than that)is not possible in the wild. Now, if you gave me mamba venom, a micropipette, and a syringe i could do it .....but don't expect a mamba to do it. For example against mice a single bite has enough venom to kill over a hundred ...when the mice are injected by scientists using carefully measured samples. However in the wild a mamba would inject a single rodent with enough venom to kill it several times over. To answer your question about the mamba killing 25 kids .....never happen in the wild. However give me one mamba, a jar with muslin covering to collect venom, a micro-pipette, and a syringe .....and after collecting one venom batch i can kill 25 kids easy. But that will not happen in the wild. The most i know (that is documented) is 9 herdsmen, a dog and 3 cows being killed by a single mamba, which is pretty impressive, but still not anywhere near 25. In most cases after a bite the snake will usually escape.

I transported a patient to the hospital with several bites from some sort of hemotoxic snake. (don't remember what kind of snake and I wasn't about to let that live snake ride to the hospital with me). He was a professional snake handler. I would have expected someone like him to carry his own anti-venom, but he didn't.

Again in many nations people are restricted from owning antivenins due to the risk of anaphylactic shock. In the US they are regulated by the FDA. Secondly due to the short shelf-life many herpetologists prefer not to bother keeping, and continuously refreshing, antivenin. It can be a real drag after the first 60 days. Another reason is depending on the snake a bite can be pretty serious (no pun intended). The dude you transported was bitten by a hemotoxic snake. In the US probably a rattlesnake. That normally means serious tissue damage, and that needs to be treated. Left untreated the person could easily develop necrosis even if the venom did not kill him. I've never seen a rattlesnake bite, but i have come across the results of being bitten by a puff adder (which also has a powerful hemotoxin) and the results are not pretty.

Anyway, lucky for snake bite victims in Houston, the Houston Zoo is directly across the street from the Medical Center. The zoo had all the necessary expertise and anti-venoms.

And that is the best thing to do. Go to a hospital (if you are bitten by a local snake a local hospital should have someone who knows how to attend to bites from snakes native to the area). The doctors will ensure you are not allergic to the antivenin (a certain percentage of people can literally be killed by the antivenin). Also they can make sure you were bitten by a venomous snake (most people think all snakes are dangerous when most are not ....even the venomous ones are normally just midly so. There are relatively few truly dangerous snakes), and that even if venomous it wasn't a dry bite (up to 20% of bites can be 'dry'). And again depending on the venom a person can quickly become unable to stay conscious or in control of all their faculties. And all in all it is good sense to go to a hospital. The problem arises when a person has an exotic snake. For example, if some kid has a Banded Krait from India or an Australian Tiger-snake or a North African saw-scaled viper. Most hospitals can be able to easily take care of a rattlesnake bite, but you cannot expect them to tackle some of the more exotic snakes. And big zoos normally have some in stock just in case a worker gets tagged, but even then there is the chance they do not have the specific antivenin needed (in most cases a huge variety of snakes can be covered with one type of anti-venin. For example Polyvalent can take care of many types of bites that relate to a specific venom type. However certain snakes require antivenins specifically targeted towards them). The firefighter from Dayton Ohio who was killed by the Gabon viper died because there was no antivenin in the whole USA for him. And anyways to treat a Gabon bite would have required loads of vials. All they could do is try to stabilize him and ease the pain (and they probably tried a last ditch attempt with some rattlesnake specific antivenin). The guy must have died horribly. However i am certain if he had been bitten by a rattlesnake he would still be alive today.

It is much easier to get a dangerous exotic snake than to get the antivenin required for its bite. It is also much cheaper.

For example the person you transported to hospital. Had he been bitten by a Rhinkals (a type of spitting cobra) i doubt they could have done anything for him. Zoos have several species of cobra, but virtually all of them have neurotoxic venom. Not the Rhinkals. Like all dedicated spitting cobras there venom is not pure neurotoxic but an eclectic mix that has a lot of cytotoxic properties (that way venom in the eyes would ahve a greater effect). And when bitten by a Rhinkals (or similar spitting cobra) the effects are more along the lines of a severe Rhinocerous viper bite. Many big zoos can provide cobra antivenin, few can provide for the Rhinkals, or for the black spitting cobra, or the red spitting cobra. However these snakes are popular because they are exotic, dangerous, and in the case of the red-spitter very attractive. And many dumbos thinl they only spit ....stupid! They have a bad bite, and if you survive it you will never forget it. I've seen photos of severe necrosis, amazing skin sloughing, and a whole host of other unpelasantries. Still, the snake is prime property, yet if bitten by one chances are there will be no antivenin (at least in time).

Hope that helps.

[AdmSmith]

A very scary story, why not take it to Hollywood.

I heard that the probability of snake accidents is increased during weekend evenings. A six-pack and an urge to impress will have fatal results.

[Bullish]

Reminds me of the old joke.

"you knew we were snakes when you began playing with us".

[Ditto]

Can Steve Irwin's demise by a Crieky Croc be far behind...

I know a guy whose degree is in herpetology(snake expert) who has been handling snakes of all kinds for most of his life and he agrees with you. The tricks these clowns pull on tv with deadly vipers will get them nailed one day if they keep it up. He also explained that even with antivenin serum on hand, survival is not at all assured. The serum itself has a high probability of killing you and the after effects for those who survive is often devastating. (Lost limbs, permanent nuerological damage, organ damage etc.)

He told me he would never try to catch a poisonus snake with a twig or by grabbing its tail the way these tv guys do. He has far too much respect for these critters and their abilities.

[mtg]

How's the snake doing?

[Tall_Texan]

Y'all are so cold-blooded!

Prayers for him and his family.

[Billthedrill]

OK, you convinced me. I'm getting a puppy instead.

[spetznaz]

LOL ....yep. Rattlesnakes and Budweiser make very bad bedfellows. Sadly many hombres tend to have a croc hunter mentality when they are drunk, and that leads to 'interesting' results.

[Hatteras]

Boonreung Buachan

The people of his village are not so sure whether to trust the news of Boonreung's demise. They've been trying to get rid of him for years but somehow, he always comes back.

[spetznaz]

Puppies do have the benefit of being totally cute ...and easy to hug. There is the doggy breath problem but i am sure that would not bother you.

Snakes only make good 'pets' only if you know what you are doing.(i think they are more 'specimens' than 'pets' since you really can't interact with them) Sadly though most people buying that lil' Burmese python have no idea one day it shall be 20 feet in length.

20 feet is much longer (and bigger) than a 4 foot child, or even the 6 foot parent.

Here is a picture of a 20 foot Burmese python. Enjoy:

Wait a minute....let me take something back. I said the dog would be easier to hug. Nah, the snake would be much easier to hug ....it even specializes in hugs that could make a bear squeel for its mama.

I hear they are pretty good a french kissing too with that flickering tongue and all.