Rules to Follow Regarding Snakes

By: Glenn Wilsey, Sr.

I was thinking about my last story about snake handling, and decided that I could have been more specific about what to do when you see a snake. So, in this month story, that’s what I’m doing.

If you spot a snake make sure there is room for "you" to get out of the snake’s way. Just like humans, a snake will travel from point A to point B. Step aside and the snake will continue on it’s way. A snake has fixed eyes and has to turn its head to see what is moving. If a snake spots you and you stop moving yes the snake knows that you are still there. If something around you moves, for example, if a tree branch moves the snake will look at the movement. When the snake looks back at you and you are not moving the snake can’t tell you from the trees around you. At that moment the snake may just go on its way to point "B". If you turn and walk the other way the snake will take off or go on its way. The snake will not chase after you. Snakes don’t chase people all over the woods, except in bad movies.

I was performing a snake show one day and had to have a woman escorted out of my show. The woman was mad because I would not agree that a snake had chased her to her car. Her story went like this; she was from Illinois, her and her girlfriend had made plans to go the river. She said that she woke up and called her girl friend. Her girl friend said that she couldn’t go with her to the river, so she went anyway. She got the river and parked her car. She got out and started walking down a long path to the river. She said she almost got to the river and looked up to see a long black snake in the path. She stopped and started to run back the way she came and the snake took a strike at her. Now, I believed all of her story to that point, because, it could happen that way. The rest of the story was harder to believe. She said she kept running and every time she turned and looked, the snake was there striking and slithering after her. She got to her car, and slammed the door shut. She looked out to see the snake at the edge of the path, still ready to strike at her. She started the car and took off. She then called her girl friend and told her that she would be home soon, because a snake chased her back to her car. She may have been scared of the snake and might have perceived that the snake was chasing her, however, it just doesn’t happen that way in real life. If you want to know what the snake was doing, I’ll tell you that from years of experience with snakes, I know that snake was about a quarter of a mile in the other direction, telling his buddies that a big, scary lady was chasing him all over the woods.

Yes, I’m sure she believed the snake was chasing her, but it was only her imagination. Hey, I’m not trying to offend anyone or call anyone a liar. It’s just physiology and a bit of psychology kicking in as her natural, "Fight or Flight" response to being startled by the snake. It could and does happen to everyone.

It could happen to me. If, say a spider fell off the ceiling while I was doing a snake show, and landed on my shoulder, the natural response that I would have no control over might be to jump up and down, and scream like a little girl. I don’t like spiders. I work with spiders, but they are not my thing. When the spider lands on me three things will happen. First, I will be startled. This initiates the "Fight or Flight" response as my subconscious mind makes the decision to run away or to take defensive action. Second, adrenalin will be released into my blood stream to give a boost of energy to my muscles and reduce pain. Third, my heart will beat faster, causing more oxygen to flow into my blood stream. When the adrenalin and extra oxygen reach my brain, I "will" see things that are not happening. I may, for the moment, believe that the spider didn’t just fall on me, but is attacking me. That is not true, I may simply perceive that the spider is bigger and more aggressive than it really is because of the rush of oxygen and adrenaline in my brain. The conscious, logical mind soon regains control and I would simply brush the spider away. So the lady did see it in her head, but I’m telling you as I told her, it didn’t (couldn’t have) happen(d) that way.

If you see a snake and don’t know what kind of snake it is, just leave it alone. If the snake is close to your campsite and doesn’t leave when it sees you, stay away and call someone who can help you. If a snake gets used to seeing you around and you are not a threat, some snakes like the black racer or the red rat snake or yellow rat snakes will get "somewhat" friendly. If people don’t chase a snake away the snake will lose its fear of humans. This does not mean the snake is going to attack. It means the snake may come very close for a better look at you. If you don’t touch the snake or try to pick it up or get too close, it won’t bite you. Again, leave the snake alone and call someone who knows about snakes.

It is important to look at pictures of the types of snakes that live in the area where you live or where you are camping or hiking, because, if you recognize the local snakes you’re much less likely to be afraid of them.

Here in south Florida, there are about 27 different species of snakes in the area. Of those, only 4 are venomous.

If you are bitten by a snake, Call emergency medical help right away.

Once you have called emergency services, try to remain calm. Sit down and try to slow your breathing. If you get upset or excited, your heart rate will increase and you will spread the venom throughout your system that much faster. Tell yourself you will be OK. If you do not have an allergic reaction to the venom, you most likely will be fine.

DO NOT try to suck the venom out of a snake bite. That doesn’t even work in cowboy movies. You are only going to suck out about 5% of the venom and that’s not enough to make a difference. Also, if you suck out the venom and you have a cut in your mouth, you have just invenomated yourself. You will not die but your mouth will swell up and you may not be able to talk very well.

DO NOT tie a tourniquet to stop the venom from circulating in the blood flow, that will make things worse. A snake’s venom is what it uses to kill what it eats and we humans are much bigger than what a snake eats. Snake venom may also act like our digestive juices, dissolving or softening the protein (muscle tissue) that it has been injected into. A tourniquet will hold the venom in one place allowing it to do more damage to that area by beginning the process of digestion of that area. You want the venom to spread out throughout the body because it becomes diluted in the bloodstream and will get weaker and weaker. That may be a good thing. It can, potentially cause allergic reactions or may damage internal organs such as your liver or kidneys, but most people come out much better if a tourniquet has not been applied to keep the venom concentrated in one place.

The faster you get help the better. The hospital you go to will not have anti-venom (called antivenin) and the doctor may not have ever had to us it. Help is available, though. Emergency services can usually get antivenin within a short time. Here in south Florida, we are lucky to have Metro-Miami Dade County Fire Rescue’s Venom 1 unit http://www.miamidade.gov/mdfr/emergency_special_venom.asp as reported on in a story by The National Geographic,

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0821_0200821_TVvenom.html and, if any of the team are reading this I want to say thanks for your good work.

Well, that’s it for now. As always, thank you for visiting our Airboats and Animals of Florida website and reading another of my stories of an airboat guide.

Glenn W. Wilsey Sr.

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