Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...and wives tales and misconceptions about snakes, that unfortunately are embedded in the minds of all too many uninformed individuals, have once again reared their heads to the point that I'm frustated to no end.

A local woman was bitten by a copperhead last weekend, and the conversations I overheard afterward were laced with shockingly inaccurate misperceptions, which would have propagated even further had I not been there to provide an alternative viewpoint. The victim was alone, in an isolated rural area, and after being bitten on the foot, RAN back to her home to call for help. She was subsequently medi-flighted to a local hospital, and according to local news reports nearly died. The good news is that she is now expected to recover fully.

Here are some of the things I overheard - fron an RN at a nearby metro hospital, no less:

All snakes are venomous to some degree.

Copperheads aren't deadly. Poisonous, but not deadly. One victim of a copperhead bite recently was treated at the RN's hospital with a simple antihistamine and sent on their way.

Snakes will chase after you and attack you.

"Garden" snakes like to hang out in gladiola patches. (This individual no longer plants gladiolas, for fear of attracting "garden" snakes.)

All snakes are potentially dangerous. If a person goes into shock and requires emergency medical treatment after an encounter with even a (relatively) nonpoisonous snake, then that snake is dangerous.

Needless to say, this wasn't the first time I've heard most of these misconceptions, and it probably won't be the last. The sad part is that these myths are so firmly engrained into some people that they will stoutly refuse to accept any alternative position. It's even more frightening to see that they exist among (allegedly) knowledgable medical professionals.

If anyone has ideas on how best to combat this ignorance, please speak up. (Oldherper, I've begun by going back to your excellent post from 30 July on what to expect from a copperhead bite. The RN above will be duly presented with a copy of it.)
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MichaelB

Good on ya for going back to that nurse! Boy, I wonder what makes her think she's such an expert to state her messed up beliefs as factual. Anyhow, going back to her to try and help her understand the truth is a step in the right direction, but don't approach her with "you're stupid" attitude, no matter how stupid she is on this particular issue. Also, you could contact your newspaper (maybe letter to the editor or something) and reference this case while dispelling the myths and the stating the true fact.

Also, I am an EMT and the only thing they teach really about snake bites is get to a doctor fast while keeping the patient calm. That's all you can do. So hopefully she won't make her profession education seem to be the source of her misinformation.
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~redmom~
My Email

Well, it's probably not entirely her fault. And...she wasn't really TOO far off on a couple of points.

A Copperhead bite is VERY unpleasant and with a large snake injecting a large load of venom has the POTENTIAL to be deadly under certain circumstances (vein hits,etc.). It is not likely to kill an adult in good health even without treatment, although the tissue damage could be severe and could necessitate an amputation. Small children and older people in generally poor health are much more at risk. Many times Copperhead bites are treated without the use of Antivenin, because of the risks associated with Antivenin (could be worse than the bite). I expect that this will change some with the widening use of CroFab instead of the old Wyeth Polyvalent Crotalid (Equine) Antivenin. The only stopping point I see with the Crofab is the price ($800.00 per ampoule wholesale, the hospital will charge you or your insurance over $1,000.00)and the fact that the average course of treatment is 12 to 15 ampoules for a serious bite. It certainly does help to limit the necrotic effects of the bite, but it's expensive. The average Copperhead bite looks much worse than it really is, but they are very painful and the effects can be lingering.

Also, there are recent studies (and some still ongoing) that indicate the presence of larger amounts of Duvernoy's secretions in the saliva of many colubrid snakes than previously thought. That doesn't mean that they are dangerous to humans, but that toxins are present in many snakes previously thought to be devoid of them. However, a Corn Snake is still harmless to humans because if the secretions are present, the amount is so small that it is negligible. It does, however, indicate to me that evolution is heading in that direction with many snakes now considered harmless....maybe in 20,000 years we'll see Spitting Indigo Snakes (if that species can survive that long, in spite of us)?

If indigos already could spit, do you think there would be more of them, or less of them?

I think more...

It's sort of like the Native Americans..if they had compound bows, there wouldn't be a white man on this continent right now.

I have a mild reaction to kingsnake saliva and definitely nerodia saliva. Very mild, just a little itching and burning for a day or two. I've also had a reaction to garter snake saliva.
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International Snakes Meetup
International Herpetology Meetup

To add to this, I did some research on copperhead bites in the US when I was thinking about getting into venomous (still ahve not done it due to legal restrictions in my area, but I am still looking at the future). In the last 30 years, there have only been 2 reported deaths from a copperhead bite that I was able to find that were not due to old age, youth, or a preexisting condition. Those 2 both resulted from multiple envenomations by multiple snakes.

As for the all snakes are venomous issue, this more or less aplpies to colubrides, but not boids. The following article goes pretty in depth on the matter.

http://www.kingsnake.com/toxinology/downloads/BGF_Colubroidea_RCMS.pdf

>>Well, it's probably not entirely her fault. And...she wasn't really TOO far off on a couple of points.
>>
>>A Copperhead bite is VERY unpleasant and with a large snake injecting a large load of venom has the POTENTIAL to be deadly under certain circumstances (vein hits,etc.). It is not likely to kill an adult in good health even without treatment, although the tissue damage could be severe and could necessitate an amputation. Small children and older people in generally poor health are much more at risk. Many times Copperhead bites are treated without the use of Antivenin, because of the risks associated with Antivenin (could be worse than the bite). I expect that this will change some with the widening use of CroFab instead of the old Wyeth Polyvalent Crotalid (Equine) Antivenin. The only stopping point I see with the Crofab is the price ($800.00 per ampoule wholesale, the hospital will charge you or your insurance over $1,000.00)and the fact that the average course of treatment is 12 to 15 ampoules for a serious bite. It certainly does help to limit the necrotic effects of the bite, but it's expensive. The average Copperhead bite looks much worse than it really is, but they are very painful and the effects can be lingering.
>>
>>Also, there are recent studies (and some still ongoing) that indicate the presence of larger amounts of Duvernoy's secretions in the saliva of many colubrid snakes than previously thought. That doesn't mean that they are dangerous to humans, but that toxins are present in many snakes previously thought to be devoid of them. However, a Corn Snake is still harmless to humans because if the secretions are present, the amount is so small that it is negligible. It does, however, indicate to me that evolution is heading in that direction with many snakes now considered harmless....maybe in 20,000 years we'll see Spitting Indigo Snakes (if that species can survive that long, in spite of us)?

or the executive nurse educator of the institution. There's no excuse for a healthcare "professional" to be spreading misinformation of any kind; the nurses I know are all professional enough to refrain from commenting about things that they aren't sure of.

BN