[pct-l] snake bite

[randy_forsland at hotmail.com (Randy Forsland)]

Greetings Marzipan,

I also lived in Thailand for a number of years and can vouch for the snake 
encounters over there. I escaped without getting bit, but did have a number 
of very close encounters. Mostly small tree vipers, but I did come face to 
face with a large cobra whilst driving a Jeep through some tall grass.

The only bite that I received over there was from a centipede (about 7 
inches long). My calf swelled up to twice its normal size for almost a 
month.

As long as you exercised a reasonable amount of awareness regarding living 
in snake habitat, you wouldn't have too many problems.

Redwood
Thai name "Banjong"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <medusaj@aol.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2005 5:09 AM
Subject: [pct-l] snake bite


> Ten years of backpacking and hiking, not counting the years in utero and 
> as an infant before my parents took a twenty-year backpacking break, no 
> rattlesnake bites or strikes.  I did see a rattlesnake coiled on the AT 
> last year, but that was probably because hoods-in-the-woods kids were 
> messing with it.  Don't know anyone who's been killed (although One-Leg, 
> the one-legged guy on the AT last year, had his c-leg struck at).
>
> I lived in Thailand for many years and there's a much bigger problem with 
> poisonous snakes there--even then most of the people killed are those who 
> work at snake farms milking cobras.  There, getting bit is a rite of 
> passage.  Most of the snake farm workers have been bit many times.
>
> My father has been bit by several scorpions in southeast Asia--and his 
> greatest fear for me on the PCT is being attacked by bears.
>
> I do, however, know someone who was killed by lightning.  A friend of mine 
> in Maine was walking through a field with his son and daughter in a storm. 
> They were all struck.  His son died.  He was struck again years later, but 
> again survived.
>
> To bring this slightly on-topic again:  I'm not worried about snakes on 
> the PCT.  I think everyone's thoughts on the snakes being more afraid of 
> us than we are of them are pretty much right on.  It's very helpful to 
> know that suction is NOT an approved treatment anymore.  I'm hiking with a 
> partner, which is the best defense IMHO--you have someone to go for help.
>
> Marzipan
> AT04
>