He graciously allowed images of his wound, the snake, and the evidence of his progressing envenomation to be posted here. See how the wound and the growing red streaks that accompany a real rattlesnake bite look in the first few hours.
He killed the snake and took it with him to the hospital for identification. Since he’d already killed it, it was a good idea; even if you think you know what kind of snake bit you. If you’re trying to decide whether to kill it or not: Don’t bother. Being able to identify the snake is not worth risking a second bite.
Notice the red streak traveling up the man’s arm. Red streaks like this can indicate venom, allergy, infection, or a number of other conditions. He heard the rattle, found the snake, and felt the bite; he was pretty sure he knew what this red streak was.
The beekeeper’s hand got two rattlesnake bites for the price of one. I’m sure he wished the rattlesnake had stayed in the bush and not under the pallet he was trying to move.
The first bite got him on the index finger, which is not easy to see in this picture. The second bite got him in the pad at the base of his thumb. There’s one pinhole where the fang broke the skin, enough for the little rattlesnake to inject its venom.
He had to drive toward civilization just to call 911 from his cell phone.
There are three important tips to remember from his experience:
Don’t put your hands where you can’t see them in rattlesnake country. Rattlesnakes don’t always rattle before biting. Always know where you are in case you need to call 911.
To keep track of how quickly the red streak is growing, the staff periodically marked the proximal point (closest to the heart) with the time. From 11:43 to 12:43, the streak traveled approximately 2 inches.
It’s important to get help right away after a snake bite. Until help arrives, you can mark any red streaks in the same way to show emergency medical staff how quickly the venom is spreading.
Bringing the rattlesnake was a useful step. It may seem unnecessary because he heard the rattle and saw the snake, but there are many species of rattlesnakes and not all the venom is the same. Many species of rattlesnake share habitats, so it could be any type.
According to Dr. Wozniak, this snake is a Southern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri). “While the western diamondback does indeed range into California,” said Wozniak in an email, “its distribution is limited to the southeastern extreme of the state.”
Wozniak says this type of rattlesnake has a particularly dangerous venom, sometimes reaching the level of the Mojave rattlesnake. “Pacific rattlesnakes typically pack a ‘double whammy’,” he said in his email, “often leaving the victim with life threatening systemic poisoning and extensive local tissue destruction.”
There’s no way to know how old this snake was. It was 25 inches long, but that doesn’t really tell us the age. Dr. Wozniak says these guys don’t get as big as diamondbacks. There’s also a myth that rattlesnake ages can be determined by the number of rattles, but rattles break off.
