ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS (Missouri) 27 July 07 Snake bite victim refuses to drain venom

A fight between brothers in Buchanan County Thursday afternoon revolved around a snake bite and how one brother reportedly refused to drain the venom from his hand.

At 6:15 p.m., deputies responded to a rural home on Cotter Road, just south of St. Joseph, said Sgt. Brian Carter of the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department. The resident said his brother had been bit in the hand by a rattlesnake he had found in the bluffs, but refused to go to the hospital. An argument ensued, and the bite victim, a Rushville, Mo., resident in his early 30s, stormed off the property.

Deputies located him at his home off U.S. Highway 59, where he refused medicaltreatment. Mr. Carter said he ultimately relented and agreed to drive himself to Atchison Hospital in Kansas. Mr. Carter said the wound was minor and slightly swollen except for the venom inside. The man released the snake before leaving his brother's home, he said.

The man's name was forwarded to the Department of Conservation for handling of a regulated species. Persons by law must be licensed to handle or capture a protected species, Mr. Carter said. Mr. Carter declined to release the man's name because the ongoing investigation.
Snake bite victim refuses to drain venom

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