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MODESTO BEE (California) 22 July 04 Man Bit By Rattlesnake, Dies
A Mariposa man died Monday night at John C. Fremont Hospital after he was bitten by a large rattlesnake that he was attempting to remove from his yard, Mariposa County Assistant Coroner Gail Sgambellone said.
Alfred Blaine Laing, 46, used a shovel to corral the snake, but it escaped the shovel and bit him on the web of his left hand, between the thumb and the first finger, said Sgambellone. Laing walked about 6 feet before collapsing, she said. Laing was pronounced dead at 9:55 p.m.
Officials performed an autopsy Wednesday, but were unable to determine an exact cause of death pending toxicology and tissue sample screenings, Sgambellone said. Laing was not known to suffer from any previous health conditions, she said.
Man Bit By Rattlesnake, Dies

6 feet before collapsing? Anaphylactic reaction? larger blood vessel?

You never know. Maybe got him in a vein. A friend of mine died in 7 minutes from an Indian cobra bite, (fairly small female too) but he was also was allergic to venom, yes people he had his own AV & his wife was a nurse.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

Amazingly quick..but one never knows. There is (looking at my hand) a vein in that part of the hand. Anaphylaxis is also a possibility. As is the combination of the two.

~~Greg~~

There was a famous Herpetologist (I think it was Shultz, but I'm not sure) who died twenty minutes after being bitten on the hand (while in the field) by a Mojove Rattler.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

However, a person dropping in 6 steps from a rattlesnake bite or dying in seven minutes from a snake bite ( especially when the record is nine minutes from a polylepis bite straight into a vein ) is hard for me to swallow. How would the coroner know how many steps he took? I don't recall anything about witnesses.
All snakebites that end that way are tragic, but adding to the story just makes things worse. I'm surprised she didn't say how the snake chased him for miles before he was finally bitten by it.
Truly a sad case, though.

Actually there is a faster death on record. Someone I knew many years ago was snake hunting with a teenage girl. A Rough green snake (which of course is harmless)dropped out of a tree on the young lady and she died on the spot of heart failure (most likely prompted by her fear).

Shock can kill with devastating quickness, even without venom. Perhaps it had a hand in this death too.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I can't tell if you're serious or not. I guess the person could have passed out, never though about that.
-Tom

An old dear friend of mine wished the same thing. Unfortunatly that is not the case.

Frank
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"The luxury of not getting involved departed with the last lifeboat Skipper..."

I can tell you the Naja naja bite ended in death 7 min. after the bite. His (Brian L. West) wife was a nurse and was quite capapble of telling living from dead. It figures one of you guys would not believe an idiot like me, but oh well, believe what you want, I'm sure you know the real answer...LOL.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

When I got tagged by a 4' Jameson's mamba, it was about 1 min. until I got the numb nasty taste on my tongue and lips, and if I would have had an allergic reaction to the bite, I probably would not have made it to the hospital. 6 steps is a little unbelievable, but not impossible.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

I hardly called you or anyone else an idiot, nor am I attempting to start a fight, I just find it hard to believe seven minutes, even a bite to a vein or artery. I think something like that would get around the hot herp world rather quickly. I would love to see any references if anyone has any. One stating whether or not anaphylaxis was the culprit. Regardless, six steps is sensationalistic at minimum.

This happened 14 years ago, and most of the people that knew him only read this forum, and don't participate (too much BS). I have articals on it, but you believe what you want.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

The man could not get spit on by any of his spitters without rashing, and swelling some.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

I also know the story of Brian West, did not know him personally but Bite to death 7 min, wife was a nurse. Not too unbelievable. I think we as venomous people tend to forget how unpredictable the bite from our captives can be. Simple bite can lead to an unpleasant, unexpected funeral.
bachman, I also know of a Tiger Snake bite that showed systemic symptomology in about 2 minutes...

Venom, it sure does do what it's supposed to do....and it does it well!
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens

www.reptilegardens.com

Way too many variables in an envenomation to rule out anything.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

The Notechis bite was not to a Mike H. was it? Don't want to mention his last name, as he is still alive.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

Look in Snake Venom Poisoning by Russell. I am personally associated with the person depicted in the photograph in the Iron lung...
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It's what you learn AFTER you know it all that counts!

Terry Phillip
Curator of Reptiles
Black Hills Reptile Gardens

www.reptilegardens.com

.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

I don't know how true this is, but Mara's "Venomous snakes of the World" mentions a case of a krait bite killing someone within 400 seconds-about 40 seconds short of 7 minutes.

I'd believe it, but the people that know everything will question it, cuz they have been personally involved in so many case histories...LOL.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"

I personally don't doubt that a venomous snake bite (especially from elapids) can kill in a VERY short time.

If the bite is IV, the seriousness of the bite is increased exponentially. Even a rattlesnake bite can become lethal very quickly if this occurs.

The whole "six steps" thing is probably an example of sensationalism by the press, but it obviously didn't take very long for the victim to succumb to the venom, six steps or not...who knows what the actual cause of death was (i.e. anaphalaxis, shock, IV bite, etc.).

The bottom line is that nothing is out of the question, individual body chemistries are different, and what may take a number of hours to kill one person can kill another in a few minutes.

Abhishek Prasad

.
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CB

"I'm a truckin bassmole, and proud of it"