Severed Rattlesnake Head Bites Man, Nearly Kills Him
BY Herschel Smith
5 years, 10 months ago
A Texas man is recovering after he claims the head of a rattlesnake bit him — moments after he had just cut it off.
Jennifer Sutcliffe’s husband was reportedly bitten by the beheaded snake on May 27 at his home near Lake Corpus Christi.
Sutcliffe told KIII-TV the two were doing yard work when she came across the four-foot rattlesnake. She said her husband used a shovel to behead the snake, but when he went to dispose of it, it bit him.
The snake, Sutcliffe said, “released all its venom into him at that point” because it no longer had a body, and her husband reportedly began immediately experiencing seizures and internal bleeding, and lost his vision.
The man was transported via helicopter to a hospital, where doctors said there was a chance he wouldn’t make it.
“A normal person who is going to get bit is going to get two to four doses of antivenom,” Sutcliffe told the news station. “He had to have 26 doses.”
Her husband is now in stable condition but is suffering from weak kidney functions, Sutcliffe said.
I’ll tell you what, snakes can lay a wallop on you. I don’t expect this is something that many folk from the far north can understand, but down South and in the Southwest, you’ve got to be very careful where you step and where you reach. I’ve been bitten by a Copperhead, and so has my dog.
They usually aren’t deadly if treated, but you can lose fingers, hands, toes, feet or whatever if not treated. A Cottonmouth (Water Moccasin) is worse, but the king of the pit vipers in America is the rattlesnake. The worst of them (most venomous pit viper in America) is the Eastern Diamondback, and not far behind is the Eastern Timber.
Be careful out there this summer.
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On June 7, 2018 at 5:49 am, Duke Norfolk said:
Yeah, reaching for that beheaded snake without using extreme caution and protection was a foolish thing to do. Makes me think the guy had very little experience with killing animals, and the post-death convulsions, etc. that often occur.
On June 7, 2018 at 9:51 am, NOG said:
Sorry, but the Mojave rattlesnake is the most venomous pit viper in America. They have both hemo and neuro toxic venom. Fortunately they live where most people don’t, so fewer bites. NTC was loaded with them back in the day. They had teams that swept the flight line constantly. Nothing like flying along in a Cobra and finding out the snake was not the only snake around.
“Certainly not the biggest, nor the most widely ranging or populous of the rattlesnakes, the Mojave rattler (Crotalus scutulatus) has the most toxic venom and a reputation as extremely aggressive toward humans. Physically similar to the Western diamondback, the Mojave rattler typically shades toward green, sparking the common name, Mojave greens.”
On June 7, 2018 at 3:19 pm, Pat Hines said:
Seven or eight years ago I was out in the vineyard and was picking up things that I needed to get rid of that were scattered around.
I looked in the somewhat tall grass and saw what looked like a black garden hose. Unthinking, I reached for it to pull it out and to my surprise, the hose decided to move away.
Fortunately, it was “just” a black snake, the kind that kills and eats rats, mice, and other snakes. Still, they will lay a biting on you if they are truly frightened, then you’ll need a Tetanus shot booster.
No biting for me this time. The other venomous varmints around here are a gazillion Black Widow spiders. Any time I’m moving something that has been lying on the ground, I have leather gloves on, Black Widow bites are nasty, too.
On June 7, 2018 at 5:51 pm, Lori said:
Mojave greens….my kids used to call them greenhaves. I remember them from working and living at China Lake. Very unpleasant. Women and snakes don’t get along…it goes way back to the garden.
On June 7, 2018 at 8:47 pm, Fred said:
Most snakebites occur to the hand, not to the foot or ankle, a fun fact that can save your life.
The number one cause of death by animal TN is by spider. We have the browns and the black widows, although the so called Brown Widow is not a related species. The Latrodectus geometricus is also called by half a dozen other names.
On June 7, 2018 at 9:11 pm, TheAlaskan said:
What’s a snake?
On June 8, 2018 at 10:44 am, moe mensale said:
When we lived in rural OR we had a couple of incidents with Western rattlers. Buckshot took care of them all. I don’t like snakes of any kind. Period.
On June 8, 2018 at 11:27 am, TheAlaskan said:
We actually DO have snakes here in Alaska. They are called politicians and they can deliver bites that are painful and can fester for generations. Their bites are often passed on to our children. And their tongues are also forked.
On June 9, 2018 at 1:20 pm, Gary said:
There was a news report here in Arkansas a few years back that reported that over a several year period 3/4 of the venomous snake bites involved someone who was drunk at the time of the bite. Most of them had deliberately messed with the snake.