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Close Call: Fly Angler Bitten By a Rattlesnake
While stalking trout along Colorado's Dolores River, fly angler Todd Field was bitten on his ankle by a rattlesnake. Field tells the story:
This happened a few years ago, before my wife and I were married. I picked her up for a date one night, but before leaving I took my wading boots out of the truck because I didn’t want the car to stink. A few days later, I had plans to fish the Dolores River in southwest Colorado, and only after I’d driven the three hours did I realize that I’d forgotten my wading boots. So I decided to fish in my sandals.
I was walking up the river and spotted some big trout rising, and as I stalked into casting position, I felt a light prick on my right ankle. I thought it was just a thorn, but when I looked down there was an 18-inch rattlesnake coiled inches from my feet. I swear I jumped 15 feet in a single bound.
For a minute I thought maybe I could continue fishing and my weekend wouldn’t be ruined. Then I thought, You just got bitten by a venomous snake. Get to a hospital! So I drove to the hospital in Cortez about 30 minutes away. By the time I walked into the ER I was already limping. Fortunately the doctors couldn’t detect any venom. The snake only got me with one fang, and it was classified as a “dry bite.” Still, it was a severe injury. My leg swelled 50 percent larger than its normal size, and the entire leg was purple, black, and yellow. It was the worst pain of my life. I was on crutches for two months and needed physical therapy to get it working again. My summer was ruined.
I guess I got off pretty easy, though. I can’t imagine a two-fang bite.
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Comments (9)
It certainly was NOT a "dry bite"! A dry bite, (which is not actually all that uncommon), is one where no venom is injected at all. If that had been the case, you would have had no symptoms afterward. Since you did have severe symptoms after the bite, the doctors did not know what they were talking about and should have their asses kicked.
Tom
Definitely a good comment. And a correct assessment. If it had been a dry bite, there would have been no after-effects or at worst little, since the fangs may still harbor a minute amount of venom from previous strikes. Not anything like the effects that he describes though.
Some doctors you had!??? How could they possibly know it was dry; any venom injected by the snake would have been absorbed into your tissues and circulated long before you got to the hospital. That's why they don't recommend cutting a bite and suctioning the venom anymore; new thinking is that by the time you do all that the venom has already left the wound site. New treatment is tourniquet between wound and heart as quickly as possible proximal to injection site. Cool the site and transport ASAP. I agree with iirv12- my brother who is now too old and slow to keep handling snakes, was biten by one while attempting to remove a water moccasin from the street, for its safety, and he too got one fang barely penetrating the finger. He almost lost his hand. There is no dry bite in my mind.
NOT a DRY bite,,,you are a lucky man!!!!
haha, A one fang bite. I would not be too happy about this one if it happened to me. Very lucky tho
Two months on crutches, that sucks. He probably got a good upper body workout though, shouldn't get fatigue from casting after that amount of upper body work/use
Remind me not to be seen by hospital ER doctors in Cortez, CO.
Glad to hear you survived the ordeal, Lyme disease via Rocky Mounted Spotted Ticks hospitalized my father and the mental effects can take up to a year to recover. Nature is harsh. Watch out.
Back in 1985 I had a dry bite from a cotton mouth. I suffered nausea but I would attribute that to nerves. I got lucky as another man in my town was bitten on the hand that same year by a cotton mouth while fishing and his hand and arm swelled and turned black. After several surgeries, one less finger and months of rehab, he recovered.
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It certainly was NOT a "dry bite"! A dry bite, (which is not actually all that uncommon), is one where no venom is injected at all. If that had been the case, you would have had no symptoms afterward. Since you did have severe symptoms after the bite, the doctors did not know what they were talking about and should have their asses kicked.
Tom
Definitely a good comment. And a correct assessment. If it had been a dry bite, there would have been no after-effects or at worst little, since the fangs may still harbor a minute amount of venom from previous strikes. Not anything like the effects that he describes though.
Some doctors you had!??? How could they possibly know it was dry; any venom injected by the snake would have been absorbed into your tissues and circulated long before you got to the hospital. That's why they don't recommend cutting a bite and suctioning the venom anymore; new thinking is that by the time you do all that the venom has already left the wound site. New treatment is tourniquet between wound and heart as quickly as possible proximal to injection site. Cool the site and transport ASAP. I agree with iirv12- my brother who is now too old and slow to keep handling snakes, was biten by one while attempting to remove a water moccasin from the street, for its safety, and he too got one fang barely penetrating the finger. He almost lost his hand. There is no dry bite in my mind.
NOT a DRY bite,,,you are a lucky man!!!!
haha, A one fang bite. I would not be too happy about this one if it happened to me. Very lucky tho
Remind me not to be seen by hospital ER doctors in Cortez, CO.
Glad to hear you survived the ordeal, Lyme disease via Rocky Mounted Spotted Ticks hospitalized my father and the mental effects can take up to a year to recover. Nature is harsh. Watch out.
Two months on crutches, that sucks. He probably got a good upper body workout though, shouldn't get fatigue from casting after that amount of upper body work/use
Back in 1985 I had a dry bite from a cotton mouth. I suffered nausea but I would attribute that to nerves. I got lucky as another man in my town was bitten on the hand that same year by a cotton mouth while fishing and his hand and arm swelled and turned black. After several surgeries, one less finger and months of rehab, he recovered.
Post a Comment