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This article is dedicated to my daughter Jasmine.
Jasmine is nine years old as of August, while staying with her Aunt in Pueblo, she was bitten on her ankle by a Rattlesnake.
Jasmine and a dog named Shirley had been walking through a field to go pet some horses, with her Aunt keeping close watch from the house. Jasmine had thought she'd stepped on a sharp rock and cried out in pain, her Aunt quickly rushed to her side to see what was wrong, she was just on time to witness a large Rattlesnake slithering away into a hole in the ground.
Jasmine was rushed to the hospital in Pueblo and put into the Intensive Care Unit for pediatrics where doctors began treatment of the bite wounds. From the description of the snake the doctors were able to best guess the age of the snake and determined a fully matured adult Rattlesnake was the culprit.
This is actually considered good news, while baby Rattlesnakes are as equally venomous as their adult counterparts, younger rattlers typically have not yet learned how to control the amount of venom they inject when they bite. The venomous bites from baby rattlers are typically more severe since they often will inject all of or most of their poison when biting an perceived enemy or prey.
Adult rattlers are more adept at controlling the amount of venom they inject when they bite, this particular adult rattler merely wanted to stand it's ground and give Jasmine a quick little warning bite, therefore it struck quickly with intention to ward her away from it's territory and the amount of venom injected was minimal.
While in I.C.U. Jasmine was treated with a new type of poisonous snake bite therapy, using an synthetic anti-venom created from genetically engineered DNA sequencing to produce antibodies in the blood stream. This is all Greek to me however, an article containing all the details is located at the following website for anyone interested. http://www.news-medical.net/?id=18609 Jasmine responded very well to treatment, when I arrived at the hospital, Jasmine was already out of I.C.U. and in a recovery room. Her leg and ankle was noticeably swollen, the area of the bite near her ankle was bruised black and blue with two small puncture wounds. Jasmine was doing well and is predicted to be released from hospital care soon. Jasmine was in good spirits when I arrived and handled the whole affair like a champ, she is currently not very fond of snakes of course. Jasmine was very lucky in this particular case.
Recent studies have shown that Rattlesnakes are becoming more and more venomous as time goes on, their poison is becoming more potent and more toxic, scientists are unsure why this is occurring. For anyone interested in the press release of this information check out...
DO NOT apply ice to the bite site or immerse the bite in a bucket of ice.
DO NOT cut the bite site or try to suck out the venom. Leave the bite alone.
DO NOT try to capture the snake to bring it to the hospital. Identification of the snake is not necessary for treatment. Besides that, you could be bitten again.
DO NOT use a constricting band, cloth or tourniquet. It's important not to restrict blood flow in any manner.
If bitten on the hand, remove all jewelry from the bite area as soon as possible because the area can swell up quickly.
Call "911" or your local Poison Control Center Get to an Emergency Room or Hospital as soon as possible.
(Tips copied from BannerHealth.com under Fair Use act)
Steven French is a Freelance Writer and Graphic Artist living in Colorado.
He has an interest in Investigative Journalism, Archaeology, Psychology,
Ethnology, Paranormal Phenomena and Ufology.
This author of this Article has choosen to make this article available with free reprint rights. Click here to copy this article.
Great Article, Steven. I had never heard that rattlers were becoming more poisonious. That's interesting---not good, but interesting. We don't see many rattlers in our area, but my husband has been bitten twice by copperheads. They are mean little rascals. Our neighbors are finding more and more cotton-mouth mociasins in their yards this year. This seems to be the year of the snake. We have found numerous in our yard, but thankfully they have all been rat snakes. It is a terrible thought when a child is bitten.
Yes, same here, until this incident occured I knew very little about Rattlesnakes except to stay away from them. I used to go camping and sleep under the stars, but then someone told me rattlers will slither into your sleepingbag with you (because of he body heat) while you sleep, when you wake up and start stirring about... ZAP... you get bit by the spooked rattler! Always slept in tents since then.
i'm glad your daughter wasn't even more seriously hurt. she'll always be able to tell that story, though. i wasn't aware of the snakes beng more poisonous.
maybe from all the pollutants we're throwing into the air? what do you think the first subject will be when your daughter gets back to school? (if she isn't already)thanks for sharing, and keep writing,
Indeed, it could have been much worse, I am very thankful she is OK, she was released from the Hospital yesterday but she will be on crutches for awhile. She goes back to school next wednesday...so I imagine her first day will be a kind of show and tell.
My theory on the rattlers becoming more venomous is this; it seems like every time we come up with these new anti-viruses, viruses themselves also evolve and we remain one step behind the viruses, even like computer viruses, our anti-virus software will always be one step behind the hackers. Perhaps as we humans keep populating and overpopulating, wildlife and nature is running out of room and nature itself evolves in an attempt to control our own ppoulation. Perhaps the rattlers are evolving as a way to survive and to defend their territories. I dont know, just a thought.
Great info for all in snake country. WE here in F;orida forget we have our own varity of poisen sankes adn when we move from up North we seem to forget all about that.
Hi Steven, first of all I want to say taht I am glad to hear that your daughter is improving rapidly and thank God it was not as bad as it could have been. I will continue to pray for her recovery!!!
Secondly, thanks for this great information and sharing your story. I know it will benefit others. Blessings to you and to Jasmine. Teresa
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