All You Treasure Hunters, Protect Yourselves from Snake Bite

[KipInOhio]

I got bit buy a copperhead in Indiana one summer, in the calf of my leg. Was drinking Tequila and it would have been about 30min walk in the hills to the car and 45min drive to the hospital.

Its impossible to cut your self like they say to make an X , and you cannot suck the back of your own leg. So I just sat down and relaxed back at camp.

Two days later back home I called the Doctor and he said well maybe a tetnes shot would be good, so at his office on day three the Doctor said this shot may be more dangerous at your age than the snake bite.

WHAT!

 

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[maipenrai]

Is there a such thing as KEVLAR pants? I have been hunting some interesting places, and although I think about snakes when I start the hunt, after a while, I completely forget about them. I just came back from hunting a dry river bed, and turning over large rocks, and digging in the leaves, (with shorts, and flip flaps, but after I got home, I thought "how stupid! . Im thinking, that a little protection, is better than no protection. Our snakes give little warning, and some are even aggressive. Do snake boots work that well, or just half protection?

 

[49r Relics]

Speaking mostly about Rattlesnakes:

Snake boots do work well but as soon as you kneel down or are standing next to a rock or wall you loose protection. Sakes are usually under rocks during the day but early in the morning and in the evening they can be on top of rocks sunning themselves. So if they strike from an elevated position, they may be able to strike above your boots. It is very common for people to be on the lookout for a few minutes, then forget about them but trust me, they are always there, especially around rocks and fallen timber. They are camouflaged and you may not see them so it's a great investment and peace of mind to get some snake boots.

Just be very cautious when kneeling and/or reaching down near rocks.

Is there a such thing as KEVLAR pants? I have been hunting some interesting places, and although I think about snakes when I start the hunt, after a while, I completely forget about them. I just came back from hunting a dry river bed, and turning over large rocks, and digging in the leaves, (with shorts, and flip flaps, but after I got home, I thought "how stupid! . Im thinking, that a little protection, is better than no protection. Our snakes give little warning, and some are even aggressive. Do snake boots work that well, or just half protection?

 

[Heysenn]

In the US, deadly snakebites are extremely rare and many of them occur while folks are trying to kill a snake or messing with a recently killed snake.

You are far more likely to be to be killed in an automobile accident on the way to a treasure hunt than to be killed by snake while hunting.

Statistically speaking, you are even more likely to be executed for a crime or struck by lightning than to be killed by a snakebite in the US.

Thank you for these numbers!!

 

[Mastiff4me]

I know Im pretty new here and at the expense of offending people, I am going to say 100% to not trust that kit if your life depended on it. As a practicing paramedic in Florida and extra training in wilderness rescue I may not be a toxicologist, but You need antivenom. The extractor may be a temporary fix to stop it from spreading with a pit viper(which destroys tissue), but it will not help with a Coral Snake which chews and spreads the venom and secretes a neurotoxin that WILL KILL YOU. Either way, when a snake bites you, the poison is already on their fangs and as they bite the venom(maybe just a little before they inject) goes through several layers of tissue eg. Skin, fat, vessels etc. before injecting. All of that tissue is all connected and will eventually enter the circulatory system. Please, don't risk your life over some kit from WalMart. You need medical help.
As far as protection goes, Rocky Snakeboots, jeans and a Taurus .357 with CCI snakeshot.

Great info. here. Thank you. So true. We recently came across 2 Corals and a Pygmy.

 

[Pick_axe]

I was waffling about spending the money for snake boots when I thought 'why not see what the other guys think?'
After reading this thread, I pulled the trigger on a pair of LaCrosse 18" boots.
I've been eyeing a "judge" for a while. I'll put that on the wish list.
Edit: I should mention snakes make me nervous because I'm nearly deaf, even without the disadvantage of wearing a headset while detecting. There's a good chance I could miss the buzz-worm message.

 

[Hobo]

If a person can't move away from a snake faster than they can get thier gun out and shoot they ought to stay on the porch.

 

[lawman0210]

I was going to post a topic but hopefully will get an answer in this thread. I am looking for a muck boot of some sort. Maybe a duck boot. I really would like a high top style just above the ankle.
Seems it isn't as easy to find these anymore in mainstream retail stores

 

[49r Relics]

Lawman0210 do you need to be worried about protection from cold/ice in a boot or just mud?

 

[lawman0210]

Just mud. I have other boots for cold weather

 

[Paleo_joe]

My little brother was bitten by a baby rattlesnake in the sonora desert. He had to be hospitalized and his leg got huge and black. They weren't sure if he had venom in him, then he rolled over and started puking.

I remember standing in tall grass in nothing but shorts and tennis shoes, hearing that rattle somewhere. I leaped out of that field like a deer, ha.

Water moccasins around here are much more aggressive. I beached a canoe on a rocky outcrop once in early spring and heard a hiss and there was one as thick as your arm SO CLOSE to my leg that once I jumped back I could not stop looking at myself over and over and over to make sure I wasn't bit. It was just so cold that he wasn't moving.

 

[Marauder1998]

Little tip: when bit by a snake, determine the size of the snake to see if there's a large amount of venom in the bite wound. Little babies have a nasty habit of spitting every last drop of venom into a bite whereas adults just give enough to make you feel it. Also, NEVER do that fake "cut a cross on the wound, suck out the blood and venom and spit", because this can actually increase your heart rate, making you bleed worse and make the venom spread throughout your body faster. Not a pretty situation to be in...also, if bitten, calm the victim. If they panic or worry more than necessary, their heart rate will increase and the venom will do much more damage to it's biological targets in the human body. Keep the victim calm. And i don't know if the whole "peeing on the wound to neutralize the venom" trick works in the case of snakebites...the venom in a bite spreads fast, and i don't think a piss-infected, venom entrance-site snakebite wound would help anyone..anyways, there ya go!

 

[gollum]

I don't personally like snake boots. I prefer gaiters. For hiking/hunting, I have gaiters. For horse/ATV Riding, I have snake chaps.

Mike

 

[Limitool]

Here in Middle TN. we have rattlers and copperheads EVERYWHERE. Coral snakes are here but I've not often seen them. I live in the middle of the woods here. Yesterday my 15 y/o grandson is riding the ATV down the driveway to our dirt road about 1:00 pm. It was 97 degrees here about then. He comes back in a couple of minutes with a pic of a rattlesnake he said was crossing the dirt road. It had 11 rattles and was close to 4 ft. long. I told him it was unusual to see one out in the open like that on a hot road in the middle of the day. I said if ya want to see some more tonight we'll go out into the yard about 9:00 pm and we'll see some quickly after it cools a little. Sure enough... we go out into front yard last night and see 3 copperheads by the 1st tree we go to. That was enough.

Every dog I've had (15-20) has been bite only once but one. They get bite in the face... head swells up like a basketball... they lie around for about 24 hours and then come back to "life" and are fine. After that if it crawls they leave any snake alone.

 

[cache finder]

I have these chaps!

Amazon.com : Rattler Snake Proof Chaps : Hunting Field Dressing Accessories : Sports & Outdoors

I haven't actually been bitten to test them out that I know of but have run across many a rattler. My uncle was bit several years ago and he shed his skin like a snake.

I remember one time before I got my chaps, I climbed over a barbed wire fence and heard that distinct sound of a rattler, I jumped back over that fence like an Olympic hurdler. I flew so fast you woulda thought you saw superman! lol