Speaking of rattlesnakes...

[Bogertophis]

I found this & thought it was a good time of year to share:



In a study, scientists used a fake leg to simulate a person stepping on a rattlesnake. Out of 175 snakes that were physically "stepped on" by the booted foot, only six bit the leg. The rest tried to get away, froze in place, or wriggled in surprise but didn't react aggressively. It's actually really hard to get bitten by a rattlesnake. They just want to be left alone.

Rattlesnakes also don't rattle before striking. A rattle doesn't mean aggression, it's an "excuse me, I'm down here." They rattle to tell you, or other large animals, that you are about to step on them, since they blend in very well with their surroundings and they'd rather you didn't smush them accidentally. Strikes are generally noise-free acts of last ditch desperation.

Only about 1% of rattlesnake bites are deadly, and those that are generally happen in situations where medical care was delayed. A quarter of rattlesnake bites don't actually involve any venom at all, they are "dry bites" intended as a warning only. As long as you get to a hospital in a reasonable amount of time, you will probably be fine. This is not a situation where minutes count, just move promptly towards medical care. The deadly bites generally happen in very remote areas, when people are hiking alone, or when drugs and alcohol are involved, since all of these can increase the amount of time it takes someone to get to help or result in poor decision-making. First aid for a bite? Just get the person to a hospital, promptly, but safely. There is nothing else you need to do, and anything you might think about doing is just wasting time getting the person to a hospital and potentially complicating things by rubbing germs into the wound or further stressing the currently stressed tissue in the area. Don't ice it, tourniquet it, or suck on it, just call 911 or start hiking back to the trailhead.

The anti-venom products ERs use are combination formulas, which work for multiple North American venomous snake species. One works for multiple species of rattlesnakes, cottonmouths, and copperheads. A second anti-venom product works for various rattlers if you know you heard a rattle but aren't sure of the exact species. Coral snake bites can be identified by looking at the bite itself by hospital staff because the venom works on the body differently and there is a separate antivenom product that works for them. All of this means you don't need to try to take a closeup picture of the snake that bit you, coax it into a box to bring with you, or kill it to bring in and show to the doctors. In the case of rattlers, copperheads, and cottonmouths, they have what they need to treat a bite without knowing exactly what species of snake it was, and in the case of coral snakes, can figure out that one bit you without seeing the snake. Don't waste time or risk a second bite messing with a snake that is already very upset.

[Nutriaitch]

very interesting to read that they don't strike when stepped on.
but I'm not shocked to read that most strikes are defensive.

as I mentioned in another thread, I'm much more familiar with Cottonmouths and Copperheads.

I personally know of 1 person that was bitten by a cottonmouth, and know of 2 others that were bitten by copperheads.

Copperheads do an absolutely AMAZING job of blending in with their surroundings. and their defense mechanism is to just freeze and blend.
Both bites that I know of were from people stepping on copperhead they never saw.

The cottonmouth bite was a more aggressive type encounter, but still a defensive bite.
guy was doing yard work in his backyard. He moved something that was on the ground so he could pass his mower, and was struck twice on his ankle by a snake that was under the sheet of tin he was moving.
Snake was likely already stressed and on alert from him and the mower and was in hiding under the tin. And when he grabbed and lifted it, the snake lashed out.

All 3 people came out alright. With the cottonmouth bite being by far the worst, but he still made a full recovery. Just took a bit more medication and time.

[Bogertophis]

I would assume by implication that in the test described the full weight of the shoe was never really on the snake. What I'm saying is that actually stepping on a snake will cause pain & likely a reflexive strike in self-defense, whereas a partial "whoops!" without full pressure was dismissed by the snakes tested. And bear in mind that even a dead (recently killed) rattlesnake can bite reflexively- people have gotten bitten while trying to collect road-kill.

Obviously, rattling would be counter-productive if they rattled at prey before striking, so clearly it's used for self-defense- trying to avoid wasting venom (which is their only weapon & means of getting food). I think many people misunderstand rattlesnakes that are rattling as being "angry" (& those scales that shade their eyes give them a "scowl" which doesn't help any), but snakes don't see things the way people do.

Rattling just means the snake feels threatened. It means "back off please!" That's why we have to watch out for them too- they don't always have a chance to react when caught off guard.

[Nutriaitch]

Rattling just means the snake feels threatened. It means "back off please!" That's why we have to watch out for them too- they don't always have a chance to react when caught off guard.

nothing scientific, just anecdotal, but allegedly snakes in Central and West Texas no longer rattle as often as a warning.
they have apparently "learned" that rattling sometimes attracts humans to kill them rather than avoid them, so that warning rattle is no longer a sure thing.

no clue if that's true, or just rumors that are floating around the area now.

[Bogertophis]

nothing scientific, just anecdotal, but allegedly snakes in Central and West Texas no longer rattle as often as a warning.
they have apparently "learned" that rattling sometimes attracts humans to kill them rather than avoid them, so that warning rattle is no longer a sure thing.

no clue if that's true, or just rumors that are floating around the area now.

Not sure, but it wouldn't be learning so much as survival of the least noticed & hardest to find. If they really knew what was going on ("round-ups") they'd be going ballistic, or should be.

I dream of our society becoming much more snake tolerant...as it is, harmless snakes are often killed too, in confusion. Gopher & bull snakes, for example, are great tail-shakers & in dry brush, it can sound like a "rattle". That's the excuse given, anyway.

[rlditmars]

The only thing that isn't clear, was there anything in the prosthetic leg to create or simulate body temperature? As we know that most snakes have heat sensors sensors and temperature is integral to the response. Ball pythons will not react the same to a room temperature prey item as they will a heated item and even more so, a live item. It's a variable I don't think can be ignored. If it wasn't accounted for in the research there could be some flaw in the methodology. Otherwise an interesting report.

[Bogertophis]

You're right, rlditmars, they should have thought of that.

[Nutriaitch]

Not sure, but it wouldn't be learning so much as survival of the least noticed & hardest to find. If they really knew what was going on ("round-ups") they'd be going ballistic, or should be.

I dream of our society becoming much more snake tolerant...as it is, harmless snakes are often killed too, in confusion. Gopher & bull snakes, for example, are great tail-shakers & in dry brush, it can sound like a "rattle". That's the excuse given, anyway.

could be.

i know out here in the oil patch, there are signs warning of rattlesnakes, and no “rules” against eliminating them.