So the large V cut is for future cocktail party conversations?
Man grabs live rattlesnake at his kid's party and tries to pose with it but it bites him in the face
The rattlesnake injects the venom using two hollow fangs (this results in two puncture wounds, not sure where the idea of a ‘V’ comes from). The venom has to be injected into the victim, it doesn’t kill when eaten.
You don’t have to take my word for it, here’s a few overly-responsible words on the subject from an actual academic person who knows things:
Poisons are substances that are toxic (cause harm) if swallowed or inhaled. Venoms are generally not toxic if swallowed, and must be injected under the skin (by snakes, spiders, etc.) into the tissues that are normally protected by skin in order to be toxic. However, we do NOT recommend drinking venom!
Everything I know comes from hanging out with crazy herpetophiles, including one I watched remove a Western Diamondback rattlesnake from a desert road so that it wouldn’t become roadkill. After he’d moved the snake, which struck at his hooked snake stick many times, he offered me a drink of the venom that glazed the stick. I declined, and he went ahead and licked it all off, said it tasted metallic. He suffered no ill effects.
He will, at $4K to $8K per vial.
“Hey, y’all, watch this…” the most self destructive words ever spoken… except maybe, “I do.”
Crowd: 
… Happy Birthday to youuuu!
[Son makes a wish and blows out his birthday cake candles.]
[Man grabs live rattlesnake at his kid’s party and tries to pose with it but it bites him in the face]
Son: Yay!
2 Likes
V stands for venom, it’s universally known. Don’t get all science’y on me, I’m drunk.
1 Like
I knew someone would point out that snakes are venomous and not poisonous. It is something drilled into you during the creepy part of biology and zoology classes. I do not like slithering creatures that like to bite. I would rather a bear or a gator.
I believe at Boing Boing you’re supposed to put the word gentleman in the title, and make us click for the punchline, e.g.
Gentleman poses for party photo with live rattlesnake
1 Like
Exactly. Bad cess to the man who thinks it’'s funny to throw a live creature on a barbecue.
1 Like
“If they can get their airway established, they’re very lucky,” Curry said.
No, only if you are allergic to rattlesnake venom.
Rattlesnake venom kills by causing blood clotting disorders.
Allergic reaction to rattlesnake venom kills by causing airway/breathing/circulation failure (anaphylactic shock).
So if you are allergic to rattlesnake venom, and you get bitten, you are super duper double screwed.
The newer antivenin is a lot safer and easier to administer, but still deadly expensive. The old stuff was also harder to mix - I remember having a group of EMS guys standing around a patient’s ER room while we administered the antivenin, each holding one bottle and slowly rotating it between their hands to mix it without foaming – if it foamed, it took too long for the bubbles to settle and the expensive vial was basically useless!
Pratt b’name, …
1 Like
The article suggests that the airway was necessary because of the risk of severe neck swelling after a facial bite.
And this guy got “26 doses”, apparently.
This can’t be generalised to all snake venom, though. There’s a case reported where blurred vision and respiratory paralysis occurred after sucking (and spitting) cobra venom from someone else’s bite, with no apparent wounds to the mouth.
It wouldn’t be a great surprise if some snakes’ venom could be absorbed through the mucous membranes of the mouth, given that spitting snakes clearly have venom that can be absorbed through the mucous membranes of the eyes. Presumably this could be considered a poison as well as a venom.
Rattlesnake venom apparently causes mild irritation if you’re stupid enough to get it in your eyes.
1 Like
26 ampoules in a course of treatment isn’t that uncommon. A typical initial dose of CroFab is 6-8 ampoules, and treatment goes on from there according to symptoms. They don’t pack more per ampoule because they’re single-use and the docs want to be able to titrate the does. 12 ampoules (6 initially, then three more doses of 2 at 6-hour intervals) is a working minimum. If the 6 ampoules don’t control the iniitial symptoms, then it’s 6 more at 1-hour intervals until they do.
And yes, the vast majority of crotalid bites occur on the hand. Guess what people were doing. Don’t do that.
3 Likes
I dunno, Arizona Man is quickly becoming the new Florida Man.
1 Like
I doubt it
Something something Joe Arpaio.
Oh wow, that sucks. On the plus side I play to stay very far away from Cobra venom. I wonder if any of the pathogens that come along for the ride can help the venom get through the skin and into the bloodstream?
The guy who I saw slurp up rattlesnake venom is one of those super science nerd people. So he knew enough to take that risk, and likely knew enough to really regret it properly had it gone sour.
Whhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Can human behavior just make any sense at all for, like, a week? How about just a single day? Is that really too much to ask?
Haa-ha. My dad once grabbed a baby viper to play with it in France, and it bit him on the thumb. At least he didn’t know it was a viper when he grabbed it.
