KAMLOOPS THIS WEEK (British Columbia) 26 July 06 Tyler knocks out rattler (Dale Bass)
It didn’t matter how hot Monday was ‚ the Toporowski family from Kamloops wasn’t going anywhere near the lake at the family cabin in Skaha.
They did, however, spend the day congratulating and thanking son Tyler, 14, for doing battle with a 30-inch rattlesnake the night before. Especially thankful is five-year-old Riley, who was the unfortunate object of the rattler’s attention.
Mom Melanie Toporowski said the family had been at a track and field meet on Sunday in Chilliwack and arrived at the cabin in the evening, hot, tired and ready for a quick dip in the lake.
While Tyler and brother Shane, 13, paddled about in a small boat, Melanie, Riley and Christopher, 11, were frolicking in the water about 20 feet out in the lake, just off their dock.
Melanie decided to head out in a kayak and was up on the dock when Riley screamed.
“It was blood-curdling,” she said. “It made all the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”
She ran and saw her youngest boy’s head above the water and the snake no more than two feet away, in what looked to be an attack position.
Melanie said she jumped into the lake and tried running to Riley, but the water impeded her speed.
Enter Tyler, who by then was on the dock.
Melanie said he had heard the scream but hadn’t seen the snake.
However, when he did, he leapt into the water on top of the snake, “whaling at it with his hands” while she grabbed Riley and got him out of the water.
Tyler followed — but so did the snake.
The kayak oar was used to end the episode and the snake’s body was put into a bucket.
Riley’s foot was bleeding and, although it didn’t look like a snake bite, the family went to the hospital — with the snake’s body in a box — as a precaution.
The youngster was watched for a few hours, but doctors decided the blood likely came from an abrasion on his foot from nearby rocks when his mom grabbed him from the water.
“We’re all a bit freaked,” Melanie said, “but I’m sure proud of my son.
“He didn’t hesitate.”
As for going back into the lake, they’re slowly getting their nerve up.
Some Googling on the Internet has shown them rattlers sometimes will head into water at night, though, so evening dips aren’t likely.
Tyler knocks out rattler