Snake Bite
October 18, 2023 - We were out hiking when I saw a stick in the trail. When the stick moved, I immediately stopped but I was only about three feet from a snake.
I zoomed in with my camera to take its portrait. It was getting annoyed! When I tried to back away, it took off, directly toward me! After finishing my snake avoidance dance and ensuring there was no snake up a pant leg, I started thinking about what kind of snake he was and wondering how fast a cold-blooded animal could move when it was cold.
On closer inspection of my photo, it was a garter snake. It got me wondering what poisonous snakes are in Colorado. It turns out there are three. All are forms of rattlesnake; the prairie, the midget faded, and the massasauga, both western and desert subspecies. They can live up to 9,500 ft in elevation and are most active here from April to September.
Rattlesnakes are usually not very aggressive but they will defend themselves if they feel threatened. The best option is to watch where you step. To do that, stay on a trail if possible. If you should happen to have an unfortunate encounter with any poisonous snake, obviously go to the emergency room, if you’re close to one. However, if you’re in the backcountry and can’t get to an emergency room quickly, you should know what to do.
First DON’T MAKE IT WORSE!
Don’t make a tourniquet.
Don’t try to suck out the venom.
Don’t cut the wound trying to make it bleed.
Don’t take pain relievers, drink caffeinated, or alcoholic beverages.
Don’t put ice on it. Not that you will have ice available in the backcountry.
The actions listed above can adversely interfere with blood clotting and circulation, making your situation worse. Doing nothing is better than making it worse. You should prepare ahead of time and know what to do and have a snake bit kit. Mine consists of two things. A piece of paper that tells me what to do, in case I forget, and a felt tip marker. That’s it!
1) Try to stay calm. Staying calm will help you think clearly as you will probably have to rescue yourself.
2) Determine what kind of snake it is. But only if you can still see the snake from a safe distance. This will help determine the best treatment when you do get to a hospital. But don’t risk getting another bite and don’t waste time looking for it.
3) Circle the bite area with a marker and record the time near the site. Yes, write on your body.
4) Set a timer for 30 minutes. You need to mark the time and progression of pain and swelling every 30 minutes. This will help your doctor know how fast the venom is progressing.
5) Use your beacon to call for help. Then determine the fastest way to meet the help that is coming. You should have a beacon when in the backcountry.
6) Remove anything constricting in the area of the bite. Clothing and jewelry might cause a restriction and be difficult to remove later after the area becomes swollen (rings, watches, boots, etc).
7) Wash the area around the bite. This removes any venom, or dirt on the surface of the skin.
8) Optional: If the bite is in a location where dirt can get in the wound, cover the site with a loose dressing. The area will probably swell and need re-bandaging. (ex: Cover a bite on your ankle when you’re going to have to walk through mud.) Time is critical so don’t waste time on bandages if it isn’t necessary.
9) Optional: If you will be more comfortable and it doesn’t slow down your reaching emergency help, immobilize the area with a sling or a splint (as if there was a fracture). If you aren’t in pain now you soon will be.
10) Get to an emergency room or other help.
The affects of a rattlesnake bit will depend on your size, activity, the location of the bite, how much venom you received, and species of snake, what part of your body was bitten, how sensitive you are… You will be in a lot of pain that will continue to get worse and you could be disfigured if you don’t get help soon but very few people die of rattlesnake bites. On average, around 5 people per year die out of 7,000-8,000 bites. Most of people that don’t survive didn’t try to get help.
While hiking with a friend, I had said that snakes, being cold blooded, move slower when they are cold. I based this on my knowledge of the Arrhenius equation but I needed to confirm this. If you have never heard of the Arrhenius equation, it predicts that the speed of a chemical reaction (in this case the snake’s muscle contraction) decreases by half for every 10C drop in temperature.
While that is generally true for cold blooded animals, it isn’t correct for rattlesnakes. Research indicates, at cold temperatures (15C), rattlesnakes were still able to strike at speeds of about 75% of the warm (35C) temperature strikes. If rattlesnake-strike speed followed the Arrhenius equation, the 20C temperature drop used in the research should have resulted in a decrease in strike speed to only 25% of the warm temperature speed.
Finally, my snake avoidance dance was my fault. While I saw something in the trail, I thought it was a stick so didn’t stop soon enough to be at a safe distance. If any wild animal reacts to your presence, you’re too close.
If you don’t have an image of my snake avoidance dance, just think about a spaghetti western “bullet dance,” where the hero has his feet shot at to make him dance around like an idiot. That was me.
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