You know, something funny happened last night, I was channel surfing and stumbled across "I've been bitten" on Animal Planet. They showed two cases of rattler poisoning.
Even though all rattler bites are potentially lethal, but most actually survive (in large part because of medical intervention), it still is usually extremely painful and very often physically disfiguring and scarring. One guy had bleeding problems for 8 months afterwards and his hand is all contorted and almost useless.
A couple of facts.
Baby rattlers have less toxin, but more potent toxin, and are prone to dump everything they have.
large rattlers have a lot of toxin and can control how much they inject, and depending upon level of agitation, may not inject much toxin, or they may pump a lot. So some might survive because they got a small dose, and others survive because they got proper medical help.
I searched and searched on the Folsom main page to try to locate any information about the critters in Folsom, but found nothing. Can anyone point me to a site which shows all of the critters here in Folsom?
For safeties sake, I think it would be a good idea for parents to know what may lurk out in the back yard, of the home they just bought.
Parents don't always stay right by their child's side when they are outside, so it may be a good idea for them to know what's out there.
It seems the homes closer to the river have more critters than homes closer to the freeway. But that is just speculation on my part.
As far as surviving a rattler bite, it also depends on if the hospital within a reasonable distance, has the anti-venom needed. Some hospitals don't keep it on hand, and must call around to find it. Time is important with a rattler bite.
The disfigurement and the muscle damage from a rattler bite is concerning. I think it's safe to say that each person has their own experience, with some being more severe than others.
Many runners and bikers go way out, miles from any hospital. If their cell phones are out of range, what do they do if they get bitten by a rattler? This is what happened to my niece on a camping trip with her folks. It took quite a while to get her to a hospital and at the time, there were no helicopters available to fly where they were.
My brother said he got a real education about the length of time it takes to get help when one is out that far in the wilderness. I said, DUH!
I guess Americans are sometimes naive about such things, or just don't think about the "what if" scenario.