[Az-Geocaching] Rattlesnakes

[Jim Scotti]

Here's my rattlesnake $0.02.  First, the statistic I've heard is that
something like 90% of snakebites are due to the moron actually trying to
interact with the snake.  Keep in mind that the snake can only jump about its
own length, so if you give it plenty of room, you should be safe, even if you
have to walk past it.  Also, most snake bites are dry.  The snake actually
has to be in contact and squeezing, I think, to inject venim (but that
shouldn't slow you down from seeking medical attention if bit....).  In all
the years I've been out and about, I've never seen a live rattler on the
trail.  My wife saw one once (but by the time I caught up to her and its
location, it was gone), and I've seen them in the road a couple times, most
recently last summer up near Toroweap Overlook when we saw one in the dirt
road within a mile of the ranger station there.  It was in the middle of the
road, so I got out of the car after stopping about 15 or 20 feet short of the
snake, took a couple pictures (the best with the zoom, of course), then I
tossed some small rocks generally at it to get it to move off the road so we
wouldn't run over it.  I never got closer than about 12-15 feet and we did
get some decent pix too.  Other "signs" of a rattler besides the sounds
mentioned by others is that you can sometimes see the trail of a snake (don't
know if it was a rattler, though it was "S" shaped going down a wash one time
while out in the wilds when I saw that a couple years ago - while
"Geodashing", BTW.  The snake trail was within a few hundred meters of the
dashpoint, though it did not log its earlier visit to the dashpoint on the
internet, so I got credit for the first arrival.... :-) ).

I've been known to leave snake bite kits in geocaches from time to time.  
They can be found at most camping stores or even WalMart for only a couple
bucks and are usually yellow rubber and have some instructions inside and are
used to suck the venim out.  Not sure how useful they are, but I suspect the
best thing to do is to seek medical help as soon as possible in any case.  
Better yet, give the snake a wide berth - it is more likely to be more afraid
of you than you are of it and usually, you will see or hear it long before
you get within striking distance.  It's also a good idea to keep your eyes
and ears open, especially with kids or pets since they don't know the rules
of dealing with snakes (though I have heard of anti-snake training for
dogs...).

Jim.

On Mon, 24 May 2004, SquishyGecko wrote:

> While reading the logs for GCJFPP, I noticed that the first two people to
> attempt this cache saw "signs" of a rattlesnake ahead.  Being from a
> place where rattlesnakes aren't a huge issue, and being accident prone
> (I've had two cactus incidents while caching so far, one pierced a
> muscle), I'm wondering just what exactly the signs of a rattlesnake in
> the area are, other than the obvious rattle.
> 
> Also, I've been searching the internet for information about how to deal
> with a rattlesnake bite, and so far there doesn't seem to be much other
> than to keep the wound below the heart, don't cut it open or use a
> tournequette, and call for help.  Anyone have any other suggestions?
> 
> If you don't hear from me by tomorrow, it's probably 'cause I'm going to
> attempt GCJFPP this afternoon, and Mr. Rattlesnake might decide to eat
> me.
> 
> Signed,
> Dumb Desert Dipstick :-)

Jim Scotti
Lunar & Planetary Laboratory
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721 USA                 http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/