Re: RC: Snake Bite

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Sat, 25 Aug 2001  1:00:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, guest@endurance.net writes:

> What you are describing has some marked differences to my own
> experience which leads me to believe that either it was a different
> variety of rattlesnake (possible, there are hundreds of varieties),
> or that there is some other secondary something going on.

One of the worst consequences of rattlesnake bite is infection--the venom causes an area of devitalized tissue that is prime breeding ground for bacteria, and snakes often have a horrid variety of bacteria in their mouths in addition to being venomous.  While Kat is right that there are a great many varieties of rattlesnakes (we have three distinct different subspecies right here in our small county in Idaho), I'd suspect that the difference in cases here has more to do with the degree of infection accompanying the bite and the particular types of bacteria involved than with anything else.  

I've only had to deal with one snake bite on a horse's leg over the years (have dealt with far more dogs that get bitten, and a few horses who have been bitten in the nose), and after the initial swelling went down, that one healed uneventfully.  But we also had her on fairly high levels of broad-spectrum antibiotics, as well as soaking and cleaning the site of the bite.

Heidi