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10-Year-Old Girl Bitten by Rattlesnake

CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii TV) - A 10-year-old girl was sent to the hospital after being bitten by a rattlesnake.

It happened Saturday April 9th, 2011 on a trail near the South Texas Botanical Gardens. Police told 3 News that the girl's father was trying to get the snake away from his family when the snake managed to suddenly bite the girl.

The father of the 10-year-old girl killed the snake and cut its head off and took the snake with them to the hospital to ensure the correct anti-venom was administered. Police say the snake may have been a Western Diamondback rattlesnake.

The girl has undergone treatment at Driscoll's Children's hospital. The father of the girl is now requesting that warning signs be put in place in order to warn future pedestrians

www.kiiitv.com/story/14423359/western-diamondback-rattlesnake-bites-10-year-old-girl?redirected=true

Family of Girl Bitten by Snake Hires Attorney
CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) - The South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center has been around for 15 years, and since that time there have been no incidents of anyone being hurt.

But that changed this past Saturday when a 10 year old Corpus Christi girl walking with her family was bitten by a diamond back rattlesnake. That family is asking that the gardens be closed down. The Amado Garza family has hired an attorney to make their message clear they say, they know the botanical gardens are suppose to get you as close to nature as possible, but not at the cost of risking your life.
www.kiiitv.com/story/14441228/snake-bite

Why would this surprise anyone? Didnt the parents of the little thugs that got attacked by the tiger they were teasing at some CA zoo a few years ago, also sue the zoo?

Isn't the animal found there naturally? Were there roads nearby where deadly automobiles are frequently seen???

I grew up in this area and am very familiar with it. When I was in High school my best friend's mom dated this guy for a while who was the ranch manager for a ranch owned by the Driscoll Children's hospital foundation. This was the hospital where the girl was taken according to the article.
Saying western diamond backs are native to this area is an understatement. You very seldom see them during the day ( I only ever saw 3 during the day the whole time I lived there.) Nighttime is a whole different story however and it would horrify people who are terrified of snakes if they knew how many rattlesnakes were actually out there.
I cannot imagine anyone living in South Texas for any length of time and not being aware of the potential risk of coming across western diamondbacks (or water moccasins for that matter if you were near a body of water.) while outdoors.
I also noticed the girl was bitten after the father tried to kill it. I realize this is preaching to the choir here but perhaps he should look in the mirror to find the reason his daughter got bitten.
Being familiar with how certain groups of people who live in this area think, I am not surprised there is a lawsuit over this although such attitudes are common everywhere it really doesn't surprise me here at all.

Yes its a crazy world with people sueing even when their trustpassing (code legal word for braking in) My homeowners Ins. was cancled once when they came by for their yearly picture of the house and said it was because I had a sign on the gate saying Attack Dog. I called to here the idiot say well if someone were to get bitten by the dog, ah, well ah, we dont cover attack dogs. Just the sign would be cause for the other guy (thief)to sue weather it was really a trained dog or not, I'd be the bad guy. So,I changed Ins.co. and got a new sign, Insured by Smith and Wesson. I bought a new shovel too! VM

Father seeks lawyer. Good luck. I think it can be proven the man provoked the "attack".

QUOTE "Police told 3 News that the girl's father was trying to get the snake away from his family when the snake managed to suddenly bite the girl." END QUOTE.

Forget the exact statistic, but somewhere around 90% of Human snake envenomation incidences are caused by intentional Human/snake interaction, either by handling or by some other knowing and willfully threatening snake directed actions.

Contributory negligence on the Father's part and an act of God/Nature.

jsc
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"As hard as I've tried, just can't NOT do this"
John Crickmer

When I used to give talks at Schools about "The snakes of Florida" I added to the list of kinds of bites, like dry bite, feeding,ect a "Post mordom bite" and explained the danger of a trashing dead Rattlesnake (pit vipers) or even, and the most likely severed head showned off as a trophy and often given to kids. There was a death from this in Jax Fl. more than once. Once I was asked to assist a taxadermis to mount for a Museum a series of Rattlesnakes heads to show the sequence of a bite from begining to end. (mouth opening and fang arrangment.) The EDB heads were in a freezer over a year and came from a Rattlesnake roundup where they were milked before being killed. Even with rubber gloves my finger tips were mumb by the end of the day! Think about it, someone dies from a DEAD snake or theres that Dittmars account of young boys bring him LIVE Gaboom vipers by draging them by the tail, over their shoulder unharmed (the kids) to his camp! Or the kid that stold two Gaboons from the National Zoo, and carried them home in a plastic bag on a city buss unharmed! There is something to Karma that is freeky. VM