BARRIE EXAMINER (Ontario) 13 September 06 Deadly snake bites man - Bitten by friend’s viper; antivenin rushed to Barrie’s RVH (Raymond Bowe)

Antivenin was rushed from the Peterborough area to Royal Victoria Hospital yesterday after a Barrie man was bitten by his friend’s pet venomous snake.

The 26-year-old was listed in stable condition last night after being bitten on the right thumb by a saw-scaled viper at a Barrie residence at about 3:30 p.m.

He’s under observation in the emergency room, and will be watched closely for 15 hours to gauge the effects of the venom.

“It’s a bit sore, but he should be fine,” Dr. Mitchell Whyne said from the emergency room.

Doctors think it was a “dry bite” — meaning no venom was injected — but they’re taking all necessary precautions, because it’s too early to tell, Whyne said.

Possible blood-clotting is one of the biggest dangers.

The location of the bite was somewhat lucky, Whyne said. The farther away from the heart and large blood vessels, the better.

However, the man isn’t out of the woods, yet.

Bry Loyst, curator of the Indian River Reptile Zoo, was contacted by the bite victim, and told him to get to the hospital immediately. Loyst and the antivenin were rushed along Highway 400 in an OPP cruiser.

The deadly effects of the saw-scaled vipers are numerous — including attacking the nervous system, and breaking down tissue — but Loyst said a bite victim would die from respiratory failure, or a heart attack, before those symptoms kicked in.

“With a full-blown bite, 90 per cent of people will die,” he said, adding it was too early to tell how much venom was injected.

If needed, the antivenin will be administered by intravenous, and the hospital will get a bill.

The snake is alive and was being kept in a container at RVH.

Saw-scaled vipers are venomous snakes found in Africa, the Middle East, Sri Lanka and India. They’re said to be aggressive, quick-tempered and strike readily, but Loyst disagrees.

“There really are no aggressive snakes,” Loyst said. “He bothered it and poked it and that’s why he got bit.

“I wish people wouldn’t keep venomous snakes without antivenin (nearby),” he added. “It’s silly.”

Though uncommon, some people do keep poisonous snakes as pets, Loyst said. But they usually remain “underground” about it.



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