LINTON DAILY CITIZEN (Indiana) 13 April 05 Greene Countian receives unwanted 'special delivery' (Andrea McCann)
It's usually fun to get a surprise in the mail, but Brock Ellis got a little more than he bargained for when he checked the mail Saturday.
Ellis said he noticed a large snake curled up in the leaves near the mailbox. When he got within about 2 feet, he said, the snake's tail went up and began to rattle.
"If somebody told me they saw a rattlesnake, I'd think they were nuts," Ellis said. "But I saw the rattle."
He described the snake as large, thick, and golden-colored with dark crossbands every 2 inches to 3 inches -- and a rattle. Ellis' wife, Michelle Ellis, said they looked up their special delivery on a DNR Web site and believe they've identified it as a timber rattlesnake.
A Department of Natural Resources Web site describes young rattlers as gray with a bright yellow tail. They're born with a single button rattle. They eventually shed their gray skin, and the adults emerge as more of a golden brown with dark crossbands or a pattern of "diamond blotches." Every time they shed, another rattle is added to the tail. Shedding occurs two to three times a year, and breakage of the brittle rattles occurs, so the number of rattles on the snake's tail cannot be used as a good gauge of the creature's age.
Rattlesnakes, along with copperheads and cottonmouths, belong to the pit viper family. They have a sensory organ, or "pit," located on each side of the diamond-shaped head, along the jaw, about halfway between the nostrils and eyes. The heat-sensing organs help them locate warm-blooded prey, even in the dark. When they strike, curved, hollow fangs that are normally folded back along the jaw, swing forward and fill with venom as the mouth opens. The fangs inject venom into the prey when the snake bites.
Mike Crane, director of the Greene County General Hospital pharmacy, said the hospital does not keep antivenin on hand to counter snakebites. Nor does the local ambulance service carry it, according to E-5 emergency medical technicians.
"Crofab is the standard antivenin used for venomous bites," Crane said.
It has a short shelf life, he said, and would cost the pharmacy $20,000 to $25,000 to treat one person. Crane said in the 15 years he's worked at GCGH, there have been no snakebite victims, making the crofab uneconomical to carry. Money isn't the bottom line, though. Crane said risk to a potential snakebite victim is weighed.
"We can have a patient to Methodist Hospital in 30 to 35 minutes by helicopter," he said.
Crane said the Poison Control Center located at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis is probably the closest facility to stock antivenin. He said there can be severe side effects to the drug, and it's best used by someone who's familiar with it.
Brock and Michelle Ellis said avoidance is going to be their main antivenin. They live between Goosepond and the marsh, on Old Lyons Road, and are concerned that the snake Brock saw may have family and friends slithering around the area, so they've been learning about rattlesnakes and their habits.
The couple has three children, ages 5, 8 and 9, and they're concerned about the kids playing outdoors now.
"We can't let them get the mail now," Michelle said, adding that she's worried about letting them play outdoors. "I've educated them about listening for the rattle, but my kids all yell and scream at the same time."
She said she's concerned that they may not hear the rattling sound. After calling DNR and being directed to Roger Stonebraker at Minnehaha Fish and Wildlife Area, Michelle said she learned that rattlesnakes are reclusive and prefer weeds and rocks for their habitat. She said Stonebraker told her that they won't go into a parklike area and that they won't bother people unless they're stepped on or picked up.
Katie Smith, chief of DNR's Wildlife Diversity section, cautioned Greene Countians to not be overanxious about rattlesnakes in the area. She said there are other snakes that mimic rattlesnakes and that look similar, but aren't venomous. However, a young copperhead, which is poisonous and found in this area, could be mistaken for a rattlesnake, as well. She said there are no recent records of rattlesnakes in Greene County, but they were found at one time in the eastern part of the county. Most in this region are found in Monroe, Brown and Martin counties, Smith said.
Contrary to popular gossip, Smith said DNR is conducting no timber rattler relocation program in Indiana. She there has been a program in Brown County in which timber rattlers are captured, tagged and re-released in the same location, but there have been no programs to release new rattlesnakes into any area. She added that neither are there plans for such a program.
"We're not releasing timber rattlesnakes anywhere," she said. "We would never do restoration of anything without public input.
"You can't rule out that someone else captured one and moved it. If one showed up over there, it's hard to tell how it got there."
Greene Countian receives unwanted 'special delivery'