NEWS JOURNAL (Mansfield, Ohio) 22 February 05 Bite doesn't bother snake enthusiast (Mike Redelson)
Bucyrus: Phil Gallant has no grudge against Renee, the poisonous viper whose bite earlier this month put him on the brink of death.
In fact, Renee is pregnant and he anxiously awaits the arrival of her babies.
"I spooked her -- that's why she bit me," said Gallant, 43, of 1940 Brokensword Road. "It's not her fault."
The snake struck him slowly, not at the 300 mph speeds some are capable of, Gallant said. He keeps between 50 to 60 exotic snakes, including several like Renee, a rhinoceros viper.
He was bitten while changing water in the viper's cage, which is in a building near his Lykens Township home. Gallant was taken to Bucyrus Community Hospital at 3:52 a.m. Feb. 7, then flown by medical helicopter to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, which had the anti-venom he needed.
After he was bitten, Gallant said he secured the building, picked up his snake books and notebooks, then proceeded into the house and told his wife Sarah.
"The main thing you have to do is keep calm," he said. "If you become excited, the heart pumps faster and the venom travels to the heart faster."
Sarah tied a towel around the wound on the left hand after Gallant scraped some of the surface skin away.
Although a medical helicopter called in from Toledo took a while to arrive because of fog, Gallant said he remained calm.
"I don't drink, I don't smoke and I don't take recreational drugs. This is my passion," Gallant said of his hobby. He works for the Marion service department.
Gallant, who has been collecting snakes for more than 25 years, has rattlers, Burmese pythons, rat and corn snakes, tree boas, water boas and copperheads.
He buys and sells the exotic snakes and isn't hesitant to show off his cache. Gallant leads free private tours and has even journeyed to area churches and schools with some of his slithering pals.
"You have to remember, snakes are not pets," he said.
The security building is escape-proof, Gallant said, and he doesn't bring his snakes into the house. All utilities are separate from the house and there are several locked doors and walls separating them from the home.
Gallant's largest snake is a 140-pound female Burmese python. They live on a steady diet of mice and rats, with an occasional rabbit. The oldest snake he has ever had was 54.
Bite doesn't bother snake enthusiast