Comments on: The Art of Manliness Guide To Snakes Part 2: How To Avoid & Treat A Snakebite

By: Rebeca

Rebeca — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:52:01 +0000

this was good information and does this reply to all snake bites

By: reptiles101

reptiles101 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:29:36 +0000

Lucky i never got bitten before but i think every snake keeper must get bitten sometimes by some snake…. so far so good, part2 was good , goin on to part3.

this is my reptile blog, http://reptiles101.blogspot.com

By: ashleigh

ashleigh — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:36:44 +0000

i love snakes and just got one and this is asome and is really helpfull to me thans alot

By: Olivia

Olivia — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 02:50:11 +0000

I am doing a report for school and this is very helpful for me! Thank you SOOO much!

By: Robb

Robb — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:38:36 +0000

As a fellow who has spent alot of time in the woods (logger), I add one more item for avoiding snakebites: When crossing a log or fallen tree, also step on top and look over the other side (also look on the front side as well). Snakes will often hide under a fallen tree to ambush animals that cross over. They will do this on trails. Your foot could either look like a an animal or startle the snake and make it think it is under attack.

Secondly, if you really take your time on a hike and notice your surroundings, you will probably discover that you pass 10 snakes for every 1 that you would normally notice.

Snakes are not out to get you. They must conserve energy to survive like any other animal. They don’t accomplish that task by attacking a creature several times their size.

By: mumbaikar

mumbaikar — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 00:18:32 +0000

Here is an article on poisonous snakes from Mumbai, India. Surprising to learn that such a huge mega city has its share of snakes. Thankfully, antivenin is available locally from Haffkine Institute.

By: Barry

Barry — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:22:56 +0000

Based on lots of outdoors experience in North America, I’ll add or reinforce these points (may not apply in Oz or Africa):

Most snake bites happen when people are trying to catch, handle or harass snakes, so if you use common sense and stay clear of those few you encounter, it will be unlikely that you will ever be bitten. Don’t act like Steve Erwin. Snakes tend to move away from people if they have the option.

Remember that most snakes are non-poisonous and many strikes from venomous snakes fail to deliver venom. Just because you have encountered a snake is no reason to panic.

Simply wearing boots such as ordinary hiking boots as well as long pants will give you considerable protection against snakebite. Most boots provide total protection for the part of your body that is within about 6-8 inches of the ground and this is the area most likely to be struck. And while ordinary pants can be penetrated, the snake may well end up biting only fabric without getting any skin. If it does get skin, the penetration will be less.

The advice to stay on the trail is excellent. Not only will it tend to keep you away from snakes and other potentially dangerous animals such as bears, but it will also reduce your risk of coming into contact with poison ivy and parasites like ticks or chiggers. It is also much easier to keep from getting lost.

When boating on a river, be aware that snakes will sometimes sunbathe by hanging in low branches that overhang the water. If you let your boat get carried under these branches, you might find yourself face to face with a snake. A little panic on both sides can result in the branch being disturbed and the snake falling into your boat, which can get dangerous since the snake may feel cornered. Stay clear of overhanging branches and if you find yourself passing under a snake, just stay calm and motionless until you drift clear. The snake wants nothing to do with you.

Basically, don’t worry about snakes in the wilderness. But do remember to prepare yourself for more likely hazards by carrying a map, compass, flashlight, whistle, matches, knife, etc. even on short day hikes. A good prepackaged survival kit can be found here: http://www.rei.com/product/708135

By: Gordon

Gordon — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:40:41 +0000

I live in Africa and have seen many Black Mambas, but there are many different types of venomous snake here and as a rule if some one is bitten we kill the snake this can be done very safely with a shot gun but in an emergency by other means (sticks, stones or whatever comes to hand). The reason we do this is so that the snake can be identified as the anti-venom must match the snake. Some species can be easily Identified like the Puff Adders and Black Mambas but unless you are herpetologist (snake nerd) you’d have a tough time and some ones life could depend upon you being 100%. Just off the top of my head there are at least 5 different kinds of cobra here and I wouldnt know one from another. Its best that the killing is done by someone else i.e. not the guy who got bitten as the bite victim must not exert themselves as this incresses heart rate make the venom work faster. Killing the snake allows it to be correctly identified at a later stage by snkake boffins so that the right anti-venom can be administered because the medical people will usually not give antivenom if they are not 100% sure what snake is the culprit. The reason for this is that the ani-venom is toxic and will not work if its the wrong one but will also make the victim a lot sicker. So by endangering yourself and killing the snake you can be saving your mates life and theres nothing more manly then that.

I would aslo like to add that there isnt enough info about other snake species in part one. Its the guys from Oz that i dont envy they have the top six most poisonous snakes in the world, but none of them can compete with the mamba for shear agression/toxicity/speed combo. Ive heard of them killing entire herds of cattle in one sitting. I seen them move and really you would have trouble out running one in the bush with a top speed of 20kmh/12mph. Fortunately if someone was bitten by one and you are in the middle of nowhere you can pretty much garentee that they will die, so in this case mambas are easy to identify (for me) and i wouldnt mess with the snake as there would be no point and the victim is gonna die anyway

By: Virilitas

Virilitas — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:03:33 +0000

I get a good laugh out of the (top) picture for this article every time I see it.

By: jeery

jeery — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 05:52:23 +0000

The free Snakes pictures,Snakes videos and more types of snakes About Us in the http://www.snakes-house.com/

By: Brett

Brett — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:43:13 +0000

Sorry dha-Well, first we started by only doing North American snakes. But then we didn’t want to leave our international readers out, so we threw in a handful from around the world. But we obviously couldn’t include all poisonous snakes, as the list would have been enormous. So it wasn’t a purposeful omission, the list just got too long before we got to your continent.

By: dha

dha — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:29:27 +0000

Why didn’t you include anything about Australian snakes? We have some worlds most venomous snakes but you didn’t include any information about them.

By: Supernetuser

Supernetuser — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:57:51 +0000

This article marks the last time I will ever hike in tall grass or off trail. The importance of staying on the trail is something the article didn’t get into but getting off the trail increases your chances of running into snakes.

By: Chojiro

Chojiro — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:07:11 +0000

Ah, insults. A true art adored by those without anything more constructive to say.

In before hypocrisy.

By: Brett

Brett — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:59:20 +0000

@ Chojiro- I don’t undestand the hostility. You could have made your suggestion to visit the site without the snarkiness. You only succeeded in making yourself look like a twit. Congratulations.