Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yes, we just had one in Missouri. A camper found the snake in his tent and threw it out, getting bit on the hand. according to the story he was unconscious in about 15 minutes, and died at the hospital. I would say this sounds like a case of anaphylactic shock, but I'm not a doctor. The incident made the front page of the newspaper. Unfortunately, now there will probably be a bounty on all copperheads in Missouri.

On a slightly lighter note, a 9-months-pregnant co-worker of Dennis' was also bitten by a copperhead. She got no antivenon, was in a bit of pain, as her leg swelled, etc, but she went on to get over the bite and deliver a perfectly normal, healthy baby. Two extreme cases, for sure.

We're involved in a venomous snake display at the local nature center this weekend, so there's sure to be a lot of misinformation, and disinformation to combat. Hopefully we can quel people's fears.

Every case I've heard of where someone died from a copperhead bite (that I don't think was pure fiction), I suspect to be from
anaphylaxis. Unfortunately, the chances of getting a straight story about such evil creatures, let alone esoteric medical minutia from any news outlet, are some where between minute and catfish fur...

Probably, your only chance to find out the truth would be if you knew what hospital they went to and go there, in person. If you can even get anyone there to talk to you, devise the most non-specific question you possibly can. "Did the person who died here recently, after a snake bite, suffer an allergic reaction." Medical staff tend to be terrified of violating HIPA rule. In reality, they can tell you just about anything as long as they don't give you the person's name, address or age, but again, the minutia tend to get lost in legal training...
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.