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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Can you see the snakeskin under the overhang? Right where the dead skin is, is where the snake is. This is on the descent to the anchors off Royal Columns at Tieton, and the snake was cool and didnt bite me, but the sound of my voice is what set him off, not me walking by, which I found interesting.
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FinnMaCoul
Trad climber
Green Mountains, Vermont
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I was teaching a group of teens at Table Mountain in Colorado my first summer out there. I was belaying one kid on a TR and several more were lounging waiting their turn. I noticed one kid fooling with something. Knowing this kid's interest in herpetology I asked him what he had (knowing that rattlers are rare in the Front Range; it never occurred to me to be concerned). He replied that it was some kind of small snake but he couldn't figure out what it was.
After I lowered the climber and was off belay I went over to take a look at what he'd found. Turns out it was not a small snake after all... it was a baby rattler. When I asked him where he'd found it he pointed toward the access trail to the top of the crag. His response, "They're all over the place up there."
I carefully picked my way up the trail, noting several young snakes along the way. Up on top, in full sun, there were MANY dozen adult snakes sunning themselves on the rocks. I have never seen so many snakes (of any kind) in one place.
Turns out we'd arrived early enough in the morning when it was still cool, that we were able to set the anchors undisturbed. Over the course of the early spring day, the snakes had emerged to take advantage of the sun.
Needless to say, I sent the kids (carefully) down to the van with my staff and waited until full dark to drop the anchors. Turns out that Table Mountain in Golden and Rabbit Mountain in Lyons are two of the only places along the Front Range where rattlers are plentiful.
We were a bit more choosy about going to Table Mountain with students after that.
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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TY
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
the f#%*!n couch.
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Lots of 'em for sure in the lower Merced canyon. Ollie got popped in the face last spring..talk about swole. His face looked like a furry bloodsack.
Sean Jones took one on the hand bouldering with a bunch of kids near El Portal.
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labrat
Trad climber
Nevada City, CA
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Reily are you sure about the "50,000 killed" number? 50,000 snakes perhaps?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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labrat,
50,000 is a very conservative figure. Of course, Africa and Asia aren't
known for their public health statistics.
"We estimate that, globally, at least 421,000 envenomings and 20,000 deaths occur each year due to snakebite. These figures may be as high as 1,841,000 envenomings and 94,000 deaths. Based on the fact that envenoming occurs in about one in every four snakebites, between 1.2 million and 5.5 million snakebites could occur annually."
The Global Burden of Snakebite: A Literature Analysis and Modelling Based on Regional Estimates of Envenoming and Deaths
Anuradhani Kasturiratne1, A. Rajitha Wickremasinghe1, Nilanthi de Silva1, N. Kithsiri Gunawardena1, Arunasalam Pathmeswaran1, Ranjan Premaratna1, Lorenzo Savioli2, David G. Lalloo3, H. Janaka de Silva1*
1 Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Ragama, Sri Lanka, 2 Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 3 Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.0050218;jsessionid=66B81B3E56F5DABADB52D86E51BE334F
Some would take issue with the authors' 1 in 4 envenomings figure.
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Tony Bird
climber
Northridge, CA
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this subject has caused me some concern recently. reference:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1597345&msg=1597367#msg1597367
this young feller at least seems to have had the right insurance (treatment=$700,000!):
http://www.rattlesnakebite.org/
this study found antivenin to be generally safe, despite my acquaintance's fears:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071493/
other notes:
Since the most common mechanism of death from rattlesnake bite is circulatory collapse, IV support and monitoring for signs of blood pressure drop are very important. Fluids may be started at a relatively slow rate if the patient is stable but should signs of impending trouble occur, circulatory volume replacement is as easy as opening a drip set valve. Twenty four hours of observation post-bite is a prudent observation time with IV fluid administration all the while.
Antivenin is expensive (at least $400 per vial) and a large dog with a severe bite is likely to require several vials. Because the product if of horse origin, often a scratch test to the ear flap is used to test for immunological sensitivity (i.e. to predict whether the patient is likely to have anaphylactic reaction to the antivenin once it is administered intravenously. The patient will likely always be sensitive to equine products after administration of antivenin which makes future snake bite treatment problematic.
A newer, more purified antivenin of sheep origin has recently been marketed (“Cro-Fab” antivenin) but this is even more expensive (approximately $700 per vial).
Antivenin is very helpful in the inactivation of snake venom but there is a narrow window during which it must be used. After about 4 hours post-bite, antivenin is of minimal use.
(from http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_rattlesnake_bites_in_californi.html);
just remember, it's a horse serum, and there could be an allergic reaction:
Before administration, read Precautions and Systemic Reactions sections below. Since the possibility of a severe immediate reaction (anaphylaxis) exists whenever a horse-serum-containing product is administered, appropriate therapeutic agents, including a tourniquet, airway, oxygen, epinephrine, an injectable pressor amine, and corticosteroid, must be available and ready for immediate use. Constant attendance and observation of the patient for untoward reactions are mandatory when Antivenin is administered. Should any systemic reaction occur, administration should be discontinued immediately and appropriate treatment initiated.
(from: http://www.kiessig.com/drugs/druginfo.aspx?id=1065);
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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just remember, it's a horse serum, and there could be an allergic reaction:
We only have to worry about that if we're already a horse's azz, right?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Rattlesnakes are okay, more predictable than most people.
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labrat
Trad climber
Nevada City, CA
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Reily,
Wow! I had no idea it was so high. I did some more reading and read it might be as high as 100,000 people.
Erik
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justin01
Trad climber
sacramento
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I have had way too many interactions with rattlesnakes.
Couple years ago, I was on a great kayak run called the waterfalls section of Dinkey creek. It is 2 days of walled in granite gorges. There are not many flat spots on or near the river, except for one mostest granite ledge/bedrock slab above a large drop. It is really the only good camping near the middle of the run. You hike in 5 or so miles down to the river, swimming through Manzanita, and then run untold numbers big scary drops. By the time we got to camp that first day were totally spent and our adrenaline completely drained.
When we pulled up late in the day, there was a half dozen rattle snakes with the same camping plans as us. We were not in the mood to share our ledge, so we grabbed our paddles and pushed them into the river above a large drop. None of us really thought much of it at that point, we were all just happy to be alive and to have had a carnage free day.
It probably goes without saying though, that we did not unfurl our sleeping bags until we were ready to get in them, and in the morning we all diligently checked our gear.
Same thing happened to me when kayaking through Tehipite. Although there, we had plenty of camping options, there are snakes everywhere, so there was no point in removing them or moving someplace else.
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Oct 15, 2011 - 07:35pm PT
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 15, 2011 - 07:53pm PT
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Such a sweet face begging to be petted!
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 15, 2011 - 08:10pm PT
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Had to kill 3 in 36 years of desert climbing.
Killed one with a Snakecharmer while attempting to breach the tamarisks below Abbey Tower and having him only start to rattle at about 2'.
Another with a rock (much harder than you would think. Use a gun) when we both found ourselves on a small ledge and he seemed to insist on MY end.
And Finn, baby rattlers ARE small snakes.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Jul 23, 2016 - 08:04pm PT
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Went to get a lime for my tequila, and I saw this guy. Southern Pacific Rattlesnake ( not to be confused with the Union Pacific Rattlesnake ) in my orange trees. Hanging out, just being a snake. He looks pretty happy, like he just ate. Maybe he'll find something to eat tomorrow.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Jul 23, 2016 - 09:10pm PT
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hey there say, chaz... :O
ohhhhhhhhh my... good you were 'vigilant' :)
is there really TWO different 'pacifics' as to the specifics of these
snakes...
wow, he sure is big, oh my...
i remember my ex brought one home from his work, one night, that
the night watchman killed for some reason?
and, i got to skin it and cook it...
we had the skin for a long time, until my son moved it from drying, and the dog chewed it up, :(
it was as long as one of the kids, :O
man oh man...
say, DO THEY or have they EVER bothered your dogs, or do
your dogs know 'better' ?
happy good eve, to you...
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Jul 23, 2016 - 09:26pm PT
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I am afraid of rattlesnakes.
Really.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
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Jul 23, 2016 - 09:34pm PT
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Hanging out, just being a snake. He looks pretty happy
Great find.
Curious if he uttered anything. You know, like, "Vote Trump for President" or "Obama's been a disaster" or "Eat this here Orange from this here Tree of Knowledge" etc.?
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Jul 23, 2016 - 10:16pm PT
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Fishing down by forks of the Kern last week when my buddy, who's more afraid of snakes than anyone I've ever met, almost stepped on this big boy.
Snakes are awesome.
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