Snakebite Victim Update...

It's been 15 days since Gale shot this gruesome photo; some 12 hours after Annie's run in with a rattler in the grass beside Freezeout Lake. As I posted previously up until a week ago the leg was not looking good, things were not going well. She would not drink unless forced to and was eating very little. She would not put her foot down instead continued to hop about on three legs...Trust me, for us it was damn frustrating, difficult to deal with and tough to watch. But then last weekend something of drastic turn for the good, the swelling began disappearing, the discoloration began to fade, and every now and then she started using her foot. Better still she began eating although still not drinking anywhere near normal, she did drink.

The above two photos shot a couple days ago show how fast the healing is progressing. The swelling is gone, hair is growing in and except for the two places where dead skin sloughed (also sloughed between her toes where the snake hit) if it weren't for the short hairs you would never know. Especially if you saw her running through the snow this morning...leaping Annie of old fashion from the concrete to the deck...twice mind you...Well hell, can you blame us for cheerin' like two little kids at Christmas...Anyway Dandy Annie is if not herownself at last, my take is she's damn close...Hooray!

Rattlesnake Bite Brings Our Bird Hunting to a Sudden Halt...

...hopefully not permanent but I must say right now this ol' boy's heart just ain't in it...For some I suppose such incidents are but a bump in the road for us it's a nightmare we hoped would never happen...But when you think about it 50 plus years of runnin' bird dogs in snake country I suppose it's a nightmare just waiting to happen. But the way this wreck occurred makes you wonder just what the hell I did to anger the hunting gods...Thursday morning dawned cold, around 20 degrees in Dillon...up Freezeout Lake who knows but the forecast for later was for cloudy skies, chilly north wind and temps in the low to mid 50s...Not exactly the sort of weather one would expect to run into a rattler, at least not one warm enough to do much harm. But 10 minutes into the hunt and no more than 40 yards from open water not at all the sort of place one expects to run into rattlers especially in late October given no rattler in its right mind would den that close to lake in low grass, not a rock in sight...Damn what the hell was it doin' there in the first beginning is a mystery I will no doubt never know the answer and will probably take to my grave wondering...Anyway Annie was hot on the trail of rooster, apparently passed too close and came out of it on three legs in great pain and no doubt wondering as I what the hell...since there was no warning buzz, nothing just a hurt for certain dog and a goddamn worried pair geezers...

The snake hit her with just one fang between the toes. At first there was no swelling, as I say no indication what the hell, but by the time we got her to a vet (in Choteau 12 miles up the road) the foot and leg were swollen big time and poor Annie was by then really hurtin' Because we could not be certain what had happened (no snake in hand) the vet put her on a powerful pain killer and two antibiotics...And hoping for the best as you can imagine we spent a restless night in the camper but come morning the swelling and bruising was much worse so on her advice we headed to Dillon hoping our vet would know and...She took one look and said nothing else but so here we are...

As you can see the damage is extensive, the worry of course is should the skin crack the healing process will no doubt be long and painful...Hoping to nix that we are bathing the leg in warm water every couple hours doing our damnedest to keep her from standing around (apparently the pain is such she is reluctant to sit or lay down) and instead lying down...so far we have not been all that successful. Another worry is the venom could destroy the coagulation properties in her blood and what that means is more than I can say but am sure it ain't good...Vet is supposed to let us know anytime so...Whatever I'd be surprised if we do any more bird hunting this season...But if all turns out OK then of course would be a small price to pay and one we'll gladly ante up...

Travel: Arizona Rattlesnakes

(click to enlarge)

This blacktail rattlesnake is just one of 18 found in Arizona. Fortunately in all our hunting trips down here we have seen just one; a large specimen (no I did not check its ID so...) found sunning itself half in and half out a pack rat hole our first trip. But this time around we hit the jackpot so to speak. A visit to the Sonoran Desert Museum (don't miss this one should you find yourself in the area) just outside Tucson lucky us (Gale would not agree) the program of the day was on rattlesnakes and gila monsters (I'll post more on these ugly brutes later). From that I was able to glean the following which I am posting just for you followers entainment; since you are by now sitting on pins and needles here goes:

Arizona is the rattlesnake capital of the U.S. with 18 species; Sonora, MX is the world capital with 25 species.

Southern Arizona has no rattlesnake “season”; snakes are active 12 months of the year be especially alert anytime temperatures rise into the upper 60s, 70s and beyond.

Arizona hospitals treat on average about 350 rattlesnake bites annually. About 1/3 are considered “legitimate” bites, those in which the victim had no interaction with the snake; 60 to 70 year old males dominate this classification. The remaining 2/3 are considered “illegitimate” whereby the victim was in some way interacting with the snake; handling, harassing, etc. Of the “illegitimate” bites a large majority are suffered by young, intoxicated, tattoo laden, males (15-30 years old) many of which are missing teeth (I’m not making this up). About 10-13 percent of the bites are “dry”, i.e. no venom injected; on average about 3 victims per year die.

Anti-venom used to be derived from serum taken from horses; in those days the majority of deaths were the result of side effects such as anaphylactic shock and severe allergic reactions. Anti-venom today is derived from sheep, carefully cleaned and such deaths are rare. The downside anti-venom has become outrageously expensive. Depending where you can expect to pay anywhere from $1500 to as much as $5000 per vial. Most snakebites require multiple vials to reverse the tissue damage. Add in doctor and hospital fees, perhaps emergency transport and such and don’t be surprised to find a bill in the mail in excess of $250,000 (this is not a typo). Severe cases have been known to push the half-million mark.

In places like southern Arizona snakes seldom den in large numbers; rarely den deep beneath the surface. Like others desert rattlers den in rocky areas but many simply crawl into a pack rat midden to ride out the cold spells.

If bitten forget all those first-aid treatments you might have read or heard. The best advice is remain calm, immobilize the bite area as much as possible, keep the bite as close to “heart high” as possible and get to a hospital as quickly as possible. The quicker anti-venom is applied the better but is effective even hours or days later if necessary.

Since I did not take any notes no doubt there is more to learn on this fascinating critter as more info drips from my sorry brain I will pass it along...over and out...

Chuck