re: How Many People Do You Know that Were Bitten by a Venomous Snake?

My Mom was bitten by a Cottonmouth. This would have been when she was about eleven (1917ish) years old. They were chasing rabbits and she mistook the white throat of a Cottommouth snake in a hole for that of a cottontail rabbit. So she reached into the hole to grab "the rabbit" and was bitten by the poisonous snake.

Now this is where God comes in. For whatever reason, her widowed mother did not take her to the doctor. As far as I can tell (the mental image of my Mom suffering from this carried with it an aversion to inquire about specifics), the extent of her treatment for the bite was the application of tourniquet plus someone (the name of that brave soul is forever lost in our family) sucked the poison out of the bite.....AND prayer. Hey, we're talking wilderness here.

My older siblings recounted that Mom had to hold her arm up in a sling so as to endure the pain - with all the ugliness a snakebite creates. Miraculously, she recovered from the bite. But it left her with bone deterioration / arthritis in that shoulder. The sporadic bouts of pain in that shoulder plagued her for the rest of her life. Eventually she lost the use of that arm altogether.

When as a young boy I learned of the incident, I came to see my Mom as a certified, bonified version of "Superwoman". Offending our Mom just wasn't something any of us kids did.

I miss my Mom.

With friends and family in the hills, would you count snake churches as "bitten". I know some of those folks who were bitten as test of their faith but none of them died. The scars and such was not like just 2 little holes.

3.
Friend in the neighborhood when I was ? 8-10 yo. Wimbledon in BR. Joey liked picking up cottonmouths. One got him.

Aunt by marriage. Copperhead in WV. Gardening.

Cousin by marriage. Tried to sling one off road in MS.

I’ve come very close to stepping on numerous copperheads. One struck at my dog and barely missed hind leg. Scariest was last summer when they all converged on my house for some reason. Then got way too close to a timber rattler in Pisgah. It has been a tamer summer.

Had a friend who was hiking with his dog in Arkansas. This guy had diabetes bad - to the point where he'd had part of one foot amputated years before. He went to step off the trail and his dog growled and jumped in front of him. Two young copperheads bit the dog in the face. He rushed it to the vet but the dog died. Probably saved his life though.

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Anyone know what anti venom actually costs at the hospital?

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About 15 years ago it was $3k/vial (see my story below).

Not people, but cattle all the time. Cottonmouths are fierce in NE, TX. A fairly large creek runs directly through my ranch and once had a bull fall into it and get attacked by a ball of mating cottonmouths. Was dead within a few minutes

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ball of mating cottonmouths

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Held a branch to steady the boat while my friend shot a ball of sunning cottonmouths on a log in Honey Island Swamp. There were snake parts flying everywhere. Haven't been back since.

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No doctor visit or anyhting.

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Yeah right, no way your parents don't seek medical attention.

A bunch around southeast Texas. Lots of swampy opportunities and woods for snakes. One of my kid’s high school friends was bitten by a dead copper head or moccasin. I don’t remember which, but he picked it up and the snake’s nerve reflexes kicked in.

No. But my grand dog did likely by a copperhead. All med vet could say is based on red blood cells it was venomous. Dog did fine and went home same night but had swollen nose. Vet said they had several dogs staying there that that night who had been bitten.