My dad ran TV cable in the 70's in Texas. His partner climbed a pole that had a transformer on it. There was a rattlesnake sunning on top of it. When saw it, he unclipped and jumped.
Broke 3 vertebrae. He never walked right again. Multiple back surgeries, which were basically butcher jobs in the 80's. Drank himself to death.
One doctor told him that he should have taken the snake bite.
One doctor told him that he should have taken the snake bite.
Dude really should have taken his chances. If the thing was rattling at him it was just telling him to back off. It likely wouldn't have done anything if he had begun to retreat. From what I understand, rattlers don't want to waste venom if they don't have to
Dude must've panicked something fierce. Not to imply that I know for certain I would do any better. We never know how we would react in such a situation. Though I will say that the thought of taking a fall like that makes me shiver a lot more than the thought of coming face to face with a rattler
Poor guy. The snakes will give dry bites too. Basically a "fuck off, but I'm not wasting venom" bite. Some of the snake removal companies put their videos on YouTube, usually it takes a lot to get them to actually attack.
If you could get antivenom, you'd definitely rather take the bite than break multiple vertebrae (except maybe a bite to the eyes).
Dude should have probably chanced it, but hindsight is 2020.
I was googling around and apparently it was invented in the 20s. But I'm not sure if local hospitals had it. Even today, I'd guess only some bigger hospitals have it.
I'm sure people remember the story of the only civilian plane that flew on 9/12 after all US airspace was grounded for 9/11. A civilian plane flew from San Diego to Miami (and back) carrying antivenom for a guy who was bitten by his pet inland taipan (an Australian snake considered the most venomous in the world). The appropriate antivenom only existed in Miami, San Diego, and NYC. The hospitlal in Miami used all of Florida's supply and begged for San Diego's supply.
I would assume the antivenom for an American snake would be more common.
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u/Cador0223 9d ago
My dad ran TV cable in the 70's in Texas. His partner climbed a pole that had a transformer on it. There was a rattlesnake sunning on top of it. When saw it, he unclipped and jumped.
Broke 3 vertebrae. He never walked right again. Multiple back surgeries, which were basically butcher jobs in the 80's. Drank himself to death.
One doctor told him that he should have taken the snake bite.