Heard someone got bit by a Rattler in the Valley Saturday??

Dart and Gustafson described in detail the case of a 28-year-old man who was bitten near his right upper lip by his pet Great Basin rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis lutosus). The patient had been previously bitten 14 times. During treatment for 1 of these 14 bites, the patient had experienced an anaphylactic reaction to antivenom. On the basis of information they had read in an outdoorsman's magazine, the patient and his neighbor developed a plan to use HVDC shock treatment in case the patient was bitten again. The patient and his neighbor were provided with the opportunity to test their plan after the patient's 15th rattlesnake bite. The snakebitten patient was placed on the ground close to the car. The HVDC shock was delivered by attaching a lead wire from one of the car's spark plug wires to the patient's lip. The neighbor then started the car and revved the engine to 3000 revolutions per minute repeatedly for approximately 5 minutes. The patient reportedly lost consciousness during the first HVDC shock treatment. The ambulance crew, who arrived about 15 minutes later, found that the patient was unconscious and had fecal incontinence.

"Got out of the car the other day to the dog barking like a psycho at my stairs. Scolded dog. Son found little rattler under the bottom step by sticking face down there. Scolded son. Removal with shovel and bucket.

Apologized to dog......"

Last year, 40 people in the county were treated for rattlesnake bites, according to the county Emergency Medical Services, compared to 30 people in 2010, 27 people in 2009 and 24 people in 2008.

A high percentage of rattler bites involve males 14-28 and/or alcohol.

Carry a spare squirrel to keep them occupied.

Edit: Just read that the Bullsnakes can also make a hissing sound that is remarkably like a rattlesnake's rattle...

So, do other types of snakes rattle? I saw a photo of a "Colorado Side Winder" on the web. I think it had a rattle.

black mambas will kill a dog or several dogs if threatened and it happens quite often. We also find dead cows and horses! We were called by the frantic family late one evening. When we arrived minutes later, two small dogs had already died and two more were showing severe symptoms of envenomation. Within 15 minutes we had found and bagged the snake. By this time the other two dogs were also dead. The snake must have been moving through the garden when it was attacked by the dogs. It would have struck out defensively, biting all the dogs that came within reach. The snake was bitten in several places on its body as well and died about a week later

Apparently there's a bad case a mange going through the coyote population so they have less predators.

Just curious: What is the most current thinking / advice from the medical community about what to do with a bite in the back country when you might not get help for a while, meaning a day or two? Does it differ from what you should do if you think you can get out within five or six hours to a road and evacuation?

From the Pacific slope in British Columbia, Canada, south through the United States to San Luis Obispo County and Kern County in California. This includes south-central British Columbia, Washington east of the Cascade Mountains, western Idaho from Coeur d'Alene south to near Council or Weiser, northern and western Oregon (excluding the Cascades), and California west of the Sierra Nevada. Also found on Morro Rock off the coast of San Luis Obispo County.

"Scientific American" reports that the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus helleri, might be undergoing an evolutionary change in its venom possibly by inter-breeding with the Mojave, Crotalus scutulatus scutulatus. It appears also to be expanding its range at the expense of the Red, Crotalus ruber, and the Speckled, Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus. The Southern Pacific seems to be hissing and rattling less, or biting first, as this is a strategy that will bring it afoul of fewer shovels.

The venom appears to be undergoing a transformation to something more akin to the Mojave's hemo and neurotoxic cocktail. Some think a dormant gene that controls the neurotoxic components may becoming activated in response to increased resistance by ground squirrels to the hemotoxic elements. Then there are those like Dr Sean Bush of Loma Linda University Med Ctr who think that we are just becoming more aware of the greater variability and potency of venoms than previously.