no ARB or WARN or HILIFT or any other offroad prep tool will save you from this guys

[thebrassnuckles]

My father in law has taken his dogs to a rattlesnake training course that is available around here. He said it was really good for the dogs and pretty educational for him as well. I will be taking my dogs to the next one. They usually happen in the early summer.

[roverrocks]

Wow.

You
Must have come across the same snake we did numerous times in your
60 years wandering the high desert. I apologize for murdering your friend.

It just
So happened that we were on private property, and the rancher that owned the property asked that we be aware tht there are very aggressive snakes in the area and that if we see any to exterminate them. He grazes his cattle in this area.

Also, I never fired a round at the snake, we were out learning about edible wild plants in an area known to be frequented by mountain lions and snakes, of course were we going to be armed. Hell, we all got together through a gun oriented forum.
There was actually no alcohol on this trip. The guy that organized it was the chief of police 4 of the people in attendance were LEO, or former LEO, the rest of us were prior military. An one 17yr old kid that was brought among by his older brother(former military, current cop)

Needless to say, there was quite a bit of firearms handling experience.

I don't think I implied that that story was to impress you. I coulda give 2 ****s what you think of me. I was merely sharing 2 very different encounters with 2 snakes of the same species. I'm sorry you were distracted by all the wanton destruction of life included in the second story.
A guy can't liven up a story with some choice words and phrases to throw in some entertainment value?

Wow! Tough guy LEO and exmilitary that couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with their initial volley of shots except for the blowing the rattle off. Must have been one hell of a fearsome snake to take on all 8 of you clowns. Not drunks with guns you claim?? Macho gunslingers that finally on their escapades and safari had to blow the rattler away with a 10 guage. At least you admit that your crap macho snake hunt is mainly BS : "A guy can't liven up a story with some choice words and phrases to throw in some entertainment value?" Did you heroes even see a snake and if you did are you sure it wasn't a fearsome bull snake or garter snake? I sure sleep better at night knowing what's out there protecting us all from the dragons in the world. LOL! What a crew of clowns.

[thebrassnuckles]

Wow I just realized I was in the rover forum. No wonder I am getting so much hate.

[roverrocks]

It's not about what you drive or don't drive in the great outdoors or anywhere else. It's not about how you get about outdoors be it four wheeling, biking, hiking, or by pogo stick. It's about your childish and immature violent firearm actions and then the over-the-top ridiculous braggadocio about your delight in obliterating a snake in a hail of gunfire. I don't care if you don't like what I say or whether or not your fearsome gunslinger companions or anybody else on this forum like what I say. Your wanton, destructive, gloating action in destroying creatures that I admire, respect, and enjoy seeing irritate the hell out of me. Hopefully you and your admirable "companions" don't get outdoors very much as I suspect you all leave a trail of bullet-ridden destruction wherever you roam be it animate or inanimate.

[Sean VHA #60013]

Antivenin can apparently only be given at a hospital due to rare cases of extreme allergic reactions. It's best to inform the closest hospital asap if possible so the proper antivenin can be acquired by the time you're there(it may have to be flown in from somewhere). I can't locate the source for it but I think keeping the bite lower than the heart is the idea, gravity working to keep the venom in the extremity(if it's in an extremity). Someone may know better. Apparently, fatalities in the states are extremely rare.

I am an Emergency Room Charge Nurse, and treat dozens of snake bites a year. Here in Virginia, the Copperhead is the most common, but we do have Rattlers in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Coral Snakes on the coast. With the exception of the Coral Snake, all venemous snakes in the US are in the family Crotalidae, and the antivenin I use to treat Copperhead and Rattlesnake bites is CroFab.

Crofab is a dehydrated spun down sheep serum that is a mixture of serum from sheep that have been envenomated with 4 different species of Crotalidae, and then are combined into one product. The vials of antivenin contain a flacky white cake of dehydrated serum which resembles Splenda that has clumped together, and when reconstituted with sterile water, takes roughly 30 minutes of slow swirling of the vial to properly mix. The first treatment dose is 4 to 6 vials diluted into a 250ml bag of normal saline, and is infused over an hour, with the patient monitored for vital signs and the bite site monitored for progression vs arrest of pain & swelling. These patients are admitted to the hospital, and may require additional 2-vial doses every 6 hours, for up to 18 hours (or 3 doses). Allergic reactions to Crofab are very rare, compared to the old equine based antivenins.

The old equine based Polyvalent Antivenin, which was prepared from the serum of horses that had been hyper-immunised with snake venoms, is not really used much anymore due to the high instances of allergic reactions in patients. We used to pre-medicate patients with Solu-Medrol, Benadryl, and Pepcid prior to giving small sub-Q test injections of polyvalent in order to guage the level of reaction they may have had. I believe that Interkom may have even stopped producing Polyvalent.

At any rate, none of this treatment is possible in the field.

Additionally, FYI the cost of the antivenin is several thousand dollars PER VIAL, so a single hospital stay for snakebite can easily cost 20,000-45,000 in medications alone. All this to say, please avoid the snakes and be careful

[maxingout]

We went to a talk about rattlesnake bites here in Arizona, and they said that the average cost of treatment for a snake bite with the helicopter ride included was around $60,000. It's a lot cheaper to wear tall boots, jeans, and be careful on the trail than it is to go through the treatment. Then of course there is the problem with serum sickness and allergic reactions to the venom so that the cure could be worse than the disease, especially if the snake did not inject any venom but only gave you a couple of skin punctures.

[thebrassnuckles]

It's not about what you drive or don't drive in the great outdoors or anywhere else. It's not about how you get about outdoors be it four wheeling, biking, hiking, or by pogo stick. It's about your childish and immature violent firearm actions and then the over-the-top ridiculous braggadocio about your delight in obliterating a snake in a hail of gunfire. I don't care if you don't like what I say or whether or not your fearsome gunslinger companions or anybody else on this forum like what I say. Your wanton, destructive, gloating action in destroying creatures that I admire, respect, and enjoy seeing irritate the hell out of me. Hopefully you and your admirable "companions" don't get outdoors very much as I suspect you all leave a trail of bullet-ridden destruction wherever you roam be it animate or inanimate.

Oooh. I get it. You are a snake lover. And a gun hater.

Check.

Also, one of the most ridiculous exaggerators I have ever even heard of. You take one story, and elaborate how a group of guys and I were drunkenly firing at a poor defenseless gopher snake.

Whereas in actuality, there were 8 guys roaming around learning about the edible plants in our area, when we came across a rattlesnake. While we're were deciding whether of no to kill it, the snake started coming our way in a hurry. The owner of the property had said there were aggressive rattlesnakes on his property.
Sure we could have turned and ran, but, what I'd someone would have tripped? Gotten bit and then it's an emergency room run.

Much easier to kill the snake and be done with it. Besides, that's what the property owner Asked us to do.

Pretty sure I didn't gloat. Why in fact it think I just said here are my 2 experiences with snakes.

There is a snake encounter everyday where I work. I hate wearing snake chaps. Therefore I hate rattlesnakes.

I like snakes. I used to have an 8' boa constrictor when I was younger. But I don't like rattlesnakes.

[AzRover]

I live on the edge of a desert wilderness area. I have a lot of wildlife in my yard, it is large with a wash and wild native plants . I come across a few snakes every summer, but only one Western Diamondback in the last 5 years. It was resting close to my house, so I relocated it out in the desert. I would not recommend that. I have seen several rattle snakes in the 40 years that I have lived in Arizona.

DSC01865.jpg
The Diamondback I relocated in a trash can.

We also have North America's most toxic scorpion, the Bark scorpion. I kill many of them every summer.

This is what I do to manage living with these animals.
I look at the ground when I walk in the yard.
I carry a stick, or a tool like a shovel. I use it to move brush before my feet get there. Also a defense against wild cats and coyotes.
Always look before putting hands in things.
Wear boots.
Always look under the car before getting in.
I don't worry about them when it is cold out.
Check beddng and shoes before getting in.

This guy is not toxic.
DSC04571.jpg

[AzRover]

http://rattlesnakevaccinefordogs.com/faqs.html

Shake bite vaccine for dogs are available.

[tommyd]

http://rattlesnakevaccinefordogs.com/faqs.html

Shake bite vaccine for dogs are available.

Very little evidence, if any, to show that the "vaccine" is effective. I'd like to see the data.