My friend got up close and personal with this guy

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Chris142

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Apple Valley, California
We went out to rescue a stolen car yesterday. We found it stuck out in the desert. My friend reached under the car to hook up a chain so I could pull the car off the rock and got bit by a rattler!

We spent 5 hrs in the hospital in Barstow. They let him go said he was lucky. They think that it was a sidewinder and there venom is not usually lethal to a human. If it had been a Mojave green things would have been different.

BTW we let the snake live. He was enjoying his morning under a car in the shade when we disturbed him.

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Ouch. He'll look twice before ever reaching under a car again from now on you watch.
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Good to hear he wasnt hurt bad.
 
Glad your friend was okay. Any rattler can leave a mess of your tissue at the least. A Mojave Green would do more, usually, but that little guy looks more like a Panamint rattler. Maybe he was watching over the car til it could be recovered.

I was hit by a copperhead when I was a kid. Small, mildly venomous snake that didn't take well to being passed over by a lawn mower and then stepped on by an idiot (me).
 
Wow, he got lucky he was not envenomated. That is not a sidewinder, but actually a speckled rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii) as tropic said above. The snake probably made a quick defensive strike at your friend, had he continued to mess w/ it (I know he didn't to begin w/) the snake would not have been so nice. Nice to hear you let it live, just like you let that huge gopher snake live.
 
Originally Posted By: Pablo


OK Just kidding, glad he OK. Got the story on the car rustler?
A tweeker stole it to go out in the desert to Look for metal. He got lost/stuck and called 911 to pick him up. They got him with the helicopter and took him to Barstow.

They thought that he was the cars owner and let him go. A few hrs later the real owner noticed it gone and reported it stolen.
 
Originally Posted By: monte
Wow, he got lucky he was not envenomated. That is not a sidewinder, but actually a speckled rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii) as tropic said above. The snake probably made a quick defensive strike at your friend, had he continued to mess w/ it (I know he didn't to begin w/) the snake would not have been so nice.
The hospital gave us some papers on snake bites. Says that 95% of all snake bites are to males 17-24 and they are drunk. We fell into the 5% with my 36 yr old friend, sober and not playing with the snake.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
A tweeker stole it to go out in the desert to Look for metal. He got lost/stuck and called 911 to pick him up. They got him with the helicopter and took him to Barstow.

Thanks Chris, you caused me to learn a new word today
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It's ironic that he went out into the desert looking for metal and left two tons of it there.
 
Yep, totally accidental/incidental bite in this case. Did they give you stats on how many people are bite by rattlers in the SW? Did he have any reaction to the bite, i.e. swelling? Was it a quick bite (instantaneous) or did it hang on? Also, did you show the Dr. your pic of the snake before he determined it to be a sidewinder?
 
It was just a quick bite to let kenny know that the snake was not happy. Very little swelling so the Dr assumed it was a Sidewinder. Said they are the least venomus rattlers in this area.

I looked up the speckled snake and you may be right.


http://www.californiaherps.com/snakes/images/cmitchelliisbcomclark08.jpg

I have never heard of that one.

They said 95% of snake bites are to males 17-25 and they are drunk. "Here hold my beer watch this".

We don't fall into that catagory.
 
The fact that it swelled (very little albeit) has me thinking if the swelling was just a reaction to the bite itself, or if in fact a trace amount of venom was introduced causing a mild reaction.
BTW it is undoubtably a speckled rattler
 
I'm definatly not a snake identifier I guess.
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Funny I don't think that I have seen 10 Rattlers in my life(don't mean that they did not see me)and my friend gets bit by one. I see many Gophers and racers though.
 
Hmm, that's the second time you posted about snake encounters. I'm glad you don't live in the Amazon, because you might end up like Jon Voight in 'Anaconda.' Now, here's just some crazy mor-type idea: why don't get a pet mongoose for protection? They will call you Mongoose Chris (Sort of half a Beastmaster!) out there in the desert!
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
he's on his way here to get his bike. i got a rubber snake! This should be good!


LOL.gif


If you can put it under his seat and leave it cracked open slightly I bet he'll see it cracked open and take a look in there to discover the snake before shutting it which would be even better than having it out in the open for him to see on top of the handlebars.
 
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