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Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Snakebite danger grows in dry weather
Published June 12, 2009
NEW BERLIN — Lots of people garden, just like retired Marion ISD ag teacher Clyde Schultze does.
A couple weeks back, Schultze was picking tomatoes at his place off Linne Road — and got bit by a rattlesnake.
“We’ve killed them in our garden before, so I should have known better,” Schultze said. “It happened on my index finger, and it was a small snake. When I saw the two puncture wounds, I knew what I had, and I went right in the house and called EMS.”
Now, three surgeries later, Schultze says his doctors are saying he’ll likely keep his hand, although he could have flexibility issues for the rest of his life.
What he wants to do is make sure, if possible, that it doesn’t happen to anybody else.
“I’m pretty sure it was under the tomato bush because it was cooler there,” Schultze said. “My main concern is that people know snakes are moving right now,”
Snakes are moving for several reasons — cooler locations being only one of them.
Guadalupe County AgriLife Extension Agent Travis Franke said the main snakes of concern in this county are rattlesnakes and copperheads.
“They’re the most dangerous,” Franke said. “There have been a lot of snake bite incidents this year, not only with human contact, but also with animals, the reason being its so dry. Snakes are coming out into areas they’re not usually in, and they’re looking for food or water. They’re going to come to gardens and other wet areas, and people need to be careful and watch where they’re walking.”
Franke said parents need to be especially careful to be aware of where their children are playing — and of what else could be in the area with them.
“People need to be aware there’s a problem out there and to be careful.”
Marion veterinarian Dr. K.L. “Bubba” Kunde treated a horse for a snakebite late Tuesday.
“We had a horse in here last night and even with intensive treatment, it passed on,” Kunde said. “Snakes have been on the move, that’s for sure. This spring, we’ve probably had so far close to 40, if not 50 snake bites, mostly on cats and dogs. The snakes are coming out of their dens, becoming more mobile, and of course they’re hungry and looking for food sources. You’ll see them around barns and in gardens.”
If you don’t want snakes, one of the best things to do, Kunde said, is get rid of their food — typically rodents and other small animals.
“Water’s not as important to snakes as it is to other animals. For a snake, typically, it’s food, food, food. If you don’t have a food source for the snakes, they’re not going to take up residence.”
Walk dogs during daylight, Kunde said. And don’t let them out by themselves at night.
“If you just turn them loose out the door and they get bit, you have a real emergency on your hands, and the sooner you get your animal in, the better,” Kunde said.
Anti-venom has been difficult and expensive to get at $500 an ampule, and a treatment for a snake bite can take two ampules, Kunde said. Oftentimes when it comes to pets or livestock, owners don’t elect to spend that kind of money, and he does the best he can treating the bite symptomatically.
But there’s something new in the field now that offers a much-cheaper alternative, and that’s a rattlesnake vaccine suitable for dogs and cats. A series of two shots for $25 each will provide protection for between six months and a year, and Kunde says the first indications he’s seen is that the vaccine can help in a big way.
“We’ve had several clients with dogs who have gone to rattlesnake vaccine,” he said.
New Berlin Volunteer Fire Department Chief Kurt Strey said La Vernia’s fire department responded to snake bite calls Wednesday — and he ran over a three-foot rattler on his way to a third call.
“People just need to watch and take extra precautions because those snakes are really moving out there right now,” Strey said. “As dry as it’s been, they have to go new places for prey. Those snakes blend in really well with their surroundings. Mr. Schultze was simply picking his tomatoes and got hit. Watch where you’re going, and take a stick with you and bang it around a bit. Have shoes on when you or the kiddos are outside. Going barefoot or wearing flip-flops in uncharted territory is not advisable.”
And Schultze says that’s the way he’ll be picking the tomatoes from now on.
“We’ve started banging the side of the tomato cage with a hoe,” Schultze said. “I would say when you start in the garden and you’re working around something where you can’t see to the bottom of the plant, be especially careful. We’ve started banging the side of the tomato cages with a hoe.”
Strey said he thought that was a pretty good idea.
“The consequences of not being careful is a sure ride and probably a helicopter ride to the hospital and some pretty painful procedures and the possibility you could die from it, depending on where you’re bitten, body chemistry and so on,” Strey said. “Luckily, we have good medical professionals close by who know how to handle it and have the right equipment. When we’re fighting a fire, we come across snakes as well, and they’re usually not too happy about us being there.”
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