Watching Out for Venomous Snakes on the Trail

Watching Out for and Avoiding Venomous Snakes on the Trail

There’s nothing more beautiful than a summer sunset deep in the Sonoran desert or up on the mesa’s of the American Southwest. An artist’s palette of reds, oranges, and yellows smear across the horizon, and you’re so swept up in the majestic marvel of God’s creation that you fail to notice another one of His masterpieces: a tightly coiled rattlesnake, on His small spit of territory you are about to tread. A flick of his rattles and a steamy hiss are fleeting warnings before razor-sharp fangs sink into your skin.

But don’t worry too much. You’re more than likely to stumble upon D.B. Cooper’s bags of cash or an undiscovered vein of silver from the Comstock Load in Nevada than you are to be killed by a snake bite in the United States. Although, it is estimated that 7,000–8,000 people per year receive venomous bites in the United States, only about five of those people die, and it is because they either don’t seek medical attention quickly enough or they were highly allergic to the venom.

Luckily, if you stay in your rig, you’ll be well protected against anything that wants to dig its fangs into your flesh and pump in enough venom to scramble your insides. But who wants to spend the time, energy, and effort to hit the remote trails in the backcountry in your favorite Jeep or truck and not get out and enjoy the vistas, views, and points of interest? And if you do, you’ve got to watch out for snakes, the scourge of any outdoor summer adventure.

“MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL, DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE GOING INTO AN AREA WHERE DEADLY SNAKES ARE KNOWN TO LIVE.”

Dens and Habits?

Venomous snakes found in the United States include rattlesnakes, copperheads, cotton-mouths/water moccasins, and coral snakes, but the vast majority of venomous species of snakes are the rattlesnake, but copperhead account for more bites than any other. They are all over the United States, especially in the warmer southern climates.

Take rattlesnakes, for example, the most popular snake in terms of what people think of when picturing a poisonous snake. There are 29 different species scattered all over the United States, from the Timber Rattlesnake found in the Eastern United States to the Western Diamondback which populates the American Southwest. Rattlesnakes can range from 1 to 8 feet, depending on the species (the big one is the Eastern Diamond-Back). They are thick snakes with ridged scales in a variety of colors and patterns, such as dark diamonds, rhombuses or hexa- gons on a lighter background.

Other distinctive physical characteristics include heat-sensing facial pits, hinged fangs that can retract and live births. These characteristics are shared with other pit vipers such as the cottonmouth and copperhead. After the tell-tale rattle, the most distinctive physical feature of a rattlesnake is their triangular head. Also, they have terrifying vertical pupils, like cat’s eyes.

Rattlesnakes spend most of their time in dens, which they make in rocky crevices or sandy pits under the shade of low bushes. Colder climates allow some snakes to hibernate for the winter in their dens, and generation after generation will use the same dens (some for more than 100 years). Since snakes are cold-blooded animals and exothermic, they like to sun themselves on sun-drenched rocks and other open places. Though they are not nocturnal, in the hot summer months, they may be more active at night.

Whereas rattlesnakes mostly blend into their environment, Coral snakes, for instance, have distinct red, black, and yellow bands of color around their relatively small frames, a color scheme that has been copied by many non-venomous snakes, like the Milk Snake or the Scarlet Kingsnake. The rhyme: “Red and yellow can kill a fellow; while red and black is a friend of Jack” can be sometimes used to distinguish a venomous Coral snake with a harmless imposter. But the best way to make sure is to know that a Coral snake has a blunt head with black coloring to just behind the eyes—and its bands completely circle its body.

No Bark, All Bite

Although, the fixed fangs of the Coral snake are weak and prove difficult sometimes to even puncture human skin, the venom of a Coral snake is highly toxic, but no deaths from Coral snake bites have been reported in North America since the late 1960s, when antivenin was developed. Nevertheless, if left untreated, the victim may experience slurred speech, double vision, and muscular paralysis, which can eventually lead to cardiac arrest.

A bite from a rattlesnake, on the other hand, can be very painful, and the neurotoxic venom is extremely potent. Symptoms include temporary and/or permanent tissue and muscle damage, loss of an extremity depending on the location of the bite, internal bleeding, and extreme pain around the injection area.

Water Moccasins, aka Cottonmouth (which gets its name from the pale white skin inside its mouth), spend a great deal of time swimming in the various waters of the southeastern United States (swamps, marshes, drainage ditches, and so on), and because they are also pit vipers—like rattlers and Coral snakes—they have triangular heads and thinner necks. Their venom is very potent, comprised of hemotoxins that prevent the blood from clotting, and although fatalities are rare, their bite can lead to temporary and/or permanent tissue and muscle damage; loss of an extremity, depending on the location of the bite; internal bleeding; and extreme pain around the injection area.

What to Watch For?

Obviously, poisonous snakes are to be avoided at all costs, but sometimes fate and circumstances will make it impossible to avoid their path. Remember that snakes would much prefer to avoid you as well. The predominately brown coloring of the rattlesnake make it nearly invisible in the desert sands, while the black Cottonmouth resemble innocent sticks or branches floating in the water. Most bites occur when people are absentmindedly enjoying nature and not watching where they are walking. The best way to put a deadly snake into a bad mood is to step on it.

Because snakes can be found in a couple of different places, depending on the time of day and the outside temperature, it is best to keep a watchful eye when traversing large flat rocks or open areas near a crevasse, cracks in the rocks, or any small place a snake might find appealing for a den. Since they are masters at camouflage, they can be hidden in plain sight, under rocks, on ledges, in trees, inside hollow logs, under wood piles and in shrubbery. And of course, never reach into a void between the rocks or a crevasse of any kind. If your cell phone slipped down in there, forget it, man, it’s the snakes’ phone now.

Snakes provide a great deal of signs to let you know that it is in no mood to be accosted. By curling itself up into a tight coil, raising up its head and tail, and using its audible defense mechanisms, a snake can fairly quickly show you that it sees you as a threat and if you don’t back off, the next course of action is a bite. A snake can usually spring up from its coil about half the length of its body… but that’s the norm. You might discover the Mike Powell of snakes who can long jump his own body length or more, so give him some extra room.

“YOU’RE MORE THAN LIKELY TO STUMBLE UPON D.B. COOPER’S BAGS OF CASH OR AN UNDISCOVERED VEIN UNITED STATES.”

Ouch! I’m Bit!

You’ll know you’ve been bit by a snake because odds are good you’ll see him do it. Most bites happen on the legs and hands, the outward extremities that are usually closest to the snake. Depending on the snake, symptoms may vary, but there will be redness and swelling around the bite site and severe pain. As mentioned before, there will be disturbed vision, numbness and tingling in your face and limbs, and labored breathing.

As you dial 911, make note of the type of snake or at least its colors, markings, head shape, and so on. Above all else, keep calm, and try not to think that the venom is slowly coursing itself through your veins. Keep the bite location lower than your heart, and remove any watches are rings from that limb (it’ll start to swell).

Don’t quickly bandage the wound. Allow it to bleed for around 30 seconds to help wash out any surface toxins. Splint the limb to prevent any movement and apply a compression bandage about four inches above the bite area, closer to the heart. This isn’t an old western movie, so don’t whip out your pocket knife and start slashing at the bite site in an effort to suck out the poison, as that will damage the tissue around the area and won’t remove much of the toxins. Don’t apply a cold compress, and above all, don’t apply a tourniquet, as that will only concentrate the venom in that one area and not allow it to dilute and reduce the chance of tissue damage.

Get the victim to a hospital as quickly as possible, however, so they can administer the anti-venom, CroFab, for all American pit vipers, and NASCA (North American Coral Snake Antivenin) if it is a Coral snake. This is why it is important to know what kind of snake bit you, since doses of NASCA are in very limited supply (due to their expense).

“A BITE FROM A RATTLESNAKE CAN BE VERY PAINFUL, AND THE NEUROTOXIC VENOM IS EXTREMELY POTENT.”

Conclusion

Though even the most venomous snake in the United States can be treated with modern medicine, there are still dangers to be experienced and risks to be taken when going into snake territory. Advances in medicine have reduced a one-time extremely deadly animal to now cause only a handful of deaths each year.

There is still no reason you should be cavalier about venomous snakes. Keeping a watchful eye, knowing where they will likely be given a certain time of day and year, understanding the subtle markings of venomous verses non-venomous snakes, and knowing what to do if you come across a snake will help keep you safe in case of an encounter. Most important of all, do your research before going into an area where deadly snakes are known to live. After all, it’s their home, and you’re just the visitor.

DO THESE THINGS

Since snakes want nothing to do with humans—they’re too big to eat, naturally— there are only a couple of reasons a snake would bite, and by avoiding doing these things, you will probably avoid getting bit.

1. Since snakes hear by vibrations (they lack external ears), heavy footfalls might make them scurry away. Surprising a snake who doesn’t expect you to be there, may cause it to lash out in self-defense.

2. Like any animal that feels threatened, if it is cornered and feels there is no way to escape, its defense mechanisms will take over. For rattlesnakes, it’s  issing and rattling its tail, while a Coral snake will make popping sounds. If these don’t work and the snake is cornered, expect it to spring at you with r markable speed and accuracy.

Of course, if you provoke it by throwing rocks at it, trying to kill it, poking it with a stick, or chasing it, it will try to bite you—and nobody will blame it for doing so.