TORONTO STAR (Ontario) 13 September 06 Antidote ready as viper bites man (Gail Swainson)
A "very lucky" 26-year-old Barrie man is recovering in hospital after suffering a painful bite from one of the world's most aggressive and toxic snakes, a deadly Saw-scale Viper.
"At this point, he's not having any critical problems, there's just some localized swelling," emergency room doctor Mitchell Whyne told reporters last night.
Ontario Provincial Police rushed 20 vials of rare antivenom to Royal Victoria Hospital from Indian River Reptile Zoo near Peterborough just in case. But Whyne said the antivenom will only be used if needed. Doctors typically wait for symptoms to develop before administering the antiserum because the snake doesn't always inject the poison when it strikes.
"We are monitoring his vitals for the next 15 hours and doing blood tests every two hours," Whyne added.
Zoo curator Bry Loyst, who travelled with the medication, worth about $2,000, said the viper is highly venomous.
"I'm still scared by this situation, it's pretty terrifying," Loyst said as he clutched a plastic container with the snake inside. "I really don't recommend these snakes as pets. They belong in a zoo. They are very dangerous."
Hospital spokesperson Donna Danyluk said the victim, who has not been named, was bitten on the right thumb about 3: 30 p.m. while visiting a friend who owned the two-foot-long reptile, which is light beige with white and brown bands. She could not say how the bite happened. The man remains in stable condition.
There are only two facilities that carry antivenom in the area, the Toronto Zoo and the Peterborough reptile zoo, Loyst said.
"There's so many venomous snakes out there we really need one central place to keep the antivenom," Loyst said. The antiserum, which was just enough to treat "one serious bite," will go to the zoo if it is not needed in Barrie.
"I really don't want to have to go back to work tomorrow without it, " Loyst added. "It's very precious stuff."
Danyluk could not say what will happen to the snake, which is not on the endangered species list. The Discovery Channel website says the Saw-scale Viper gets its name from the sound it makes when it readies for attack.
The snake, found in Africa, Southern Asia and India, coils and rubs its lateral scales together, making a sound like a saw cutting through wood.
The snake's highly toxic venom eats away at body tissue and can cause interruptions in blood flow, said the website.

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