About Snake Bites

Snake bites can not only be the most painful, but also the most lethal of all animal bites. The good news is that most people have a better chance of being struck by lightning than of dying from a snake bite. Despite the rarity of snake bite death, however, it only makes good sense to learn some good advice on how to prevent and how to treat a bite.

Prevention

• Snake bites are fairly easy to prevent for the simple reason that most snakes will attack a person only if they they have been stepped on or directly provoked. Even in these cases, most snakes would rather simply get away than get into a conflict with something as large as a human being. Since most snakes hunt at night, carrying a flashlight when you travel through an area likely to be infested with snakes makes good sense.

Venom

• More good news: there are far more non-venomous species of snakes on earth than venomous snakes. The bad news is that even if a snake is not venomous, it may still bite and the bite can be exceptionally painful. Besides being painful, a snake bite from a non-venomous snake can also become infected.

Striking Distance

• People tend to have an exaggerated sense of the act of a snake striking from watching too many slow motion snake strikes in nature films. The truth is that the average striking distance of a snake is rarely more than half their length. That means that even a 10-foot long snake can only quickly strike out about 3 or 4 feet, because the longer the snake, the shorter the distance. Snakes have the benefit of lightning-quick reflexes but most people can easily avoid getting bit if the snake strikes while you are running.

Identification

• Identifying a venomous snake is fairly easy, as long as it is not attacking. Most venomous snakes tend to have a triangular shaped head, slit pupils and very long fangs. These fangs will make puncture wounds at the end of each row of the snake's teeth. By contrast, a non-venomous snake tends to leave teeth marks after a bite, but not the puncture wounds of the venomous snake.

Venom

• The worst case scenario when it comes to snake bites is getting bit by a venomous snake, but less than half of all reported snake bites resulted in any venom actually being injected. Nevertheless, until you can identify the kind of snake responsible for the bite, it is best to err on the side of caution and assume venom was injected. A venom pump may be used to suck out the poison, but in most cases sucking it out with the mouth (as seen in countless movies) turns out to be ineffective.

Symptoms

• The symptoms of a venomous bite are the tell-tell puncture wounds, swelling and pain, and possibly nausea followed by vomiting. Other symptoms include an increasing difficulty in breathing and swallowing. If the victim turns out to be especially allergic or if too much venom got into the system, symptoms could also include weakness, loss of color in the face and discoloration around the area of the bite.

Treatment

• The best possible treatment for a snake bite is a trip to the emergency room or doctor. The first response should include washing the wound with soap and water, if possible. Apply ice or a cold pack and use the affected part of the body as little as possible as this will cause a delay in the absorption of the venom into the body. In most cases when the victim of a venomous snake bite gets to the hospital, doctors will treat him with antivenin, often mispronounced as anti-venom. Antivenin is an antidote that is made from the antibodies in the blood created when a horse is injected with snake venom. This treatment works wonders in almost all cases. The exception is for those who are allergic to horses, but even they usually receive the antivenin with the difference being a more intense management of their case.