Oklahoma’s 3 Most Notable Snake Bite Incidents This Year

In the United States, you usually tend to be killed by a lightning strike or a fireworks accident than by a snake. Even utilizing the very best estimate from the Centers for Disease Control of 8,000 snake bites per 12 months, the chances of a snake biting you’re 40,965 to 1. That’s an incidence price of three.74 bites per 100,000 folks. If you occur to be in Oklahoma, nevertheless, your probabilities of a snake sinking its fangs into you climb to eight.85 per 100,000. Let’s check out Oklahoma’s three most notable snake chew incidents this 12 months. 

Snakebites within the United States

From 1989-2018, a examine revealed within the American Journal of Emergency Medicine recognized 101 deadly bites from snakes native to the United States. Rattlesnakes accounted for 90.2 p.c of the 82 deaths during which they recognized the species. There have been 5 fatalities attributed to copperheads, two from cottonmouths, and one brought on by an japanese coral snake.

The nation is home to about 30 species of venomous snakes. These embody 23 species of rattlesnakes, three species of coral snakes, two species of copperhead, and two species of cottonmouth. The japanese diamondback rattlesnake is the most important of its species and probably the most venomous snake in North America.

Each 12 months, the United States sees a mean of 30 snake bites per million folks. Out of all of the snake chew victims within the nation, almost 5 folks die. Only one in 500 venomous snake bites, nevertheless, ends in demise.

Poor Decisions Cause the Most Bites

Snake bites are divided into two classes — respectable and illegitimate. A chew is taken into account respectable if the person wasn’t conscious of the snake or was making an attempt to maneuver away from it when she or he was bitten. If the person acknowledged the snake however didn’t attempt to transfer away, it’s termed illegitimate. Some research discovered as much as 67 p.c of all snake bites have been illegitimate. This means they concerned folks dealing with or harassing the snake. 

Many illegitimate bites happen whereas making an attempt to catch or kill a snake. This places a person at a a lot larger threat of being harmed by a snake. Other situations of illegitimate bites embody folks holding venomous pet snakes, spiritual snake handlers, {and professional} snake handlers. Unfortunately for the snakes, they’re typically blamed for folks’s poor selections. 

Oklahoma’s 3 Most Notable Snake Bite Incidents This Year

The majority of Oklahoma’s 46 species of snakes are nonvenomous. According to Oklahoma State University, the state is home to 5 species of rattlesnake. These embody the timber, western diamond-backed, prairie, western massasauga, and western pygmy. The copperhead is a typical venomous snake within the japanese half of Oklahoma. While there are a number of species of water snakes within the state, just one, the western cottonmouth, is venomous.

Watch the terrifying second when a snake bites an Oklahoma man within the face when opening a entrance door in 2019.

1. 17-Year-Old Lucky to Be Alive

While circumstances of illegitimate bites abound, Johnathan Church’s ordeal at his household farm close to Prague, OK, is an ideal instance of a respectable snake chew. On July 26, 2023, 17-year-old Church was getting away from bed to seize a drink of water. He had no thought {that a} pygmy rattlesnake had slithered into his room. As he stepped towards his door, the snake sunk one in all its fangs into Church’s foot.

“It was shocking and terrifying,” Church mentioned. “The pain at first was like a five out of 10.”

Because the rattlesnake was solely in a position to get Church with one fang, medical doctors mentioned the scenario was not as unhealthy because it may have been. They have been in a position to deal with the chew and stop it from getting worse.

2. Boaters Surprised by Snake

A pair was having fun with a time out on the water of their pontoon boat on Okemah Lake in June 2023 when a pygmy rattlesnake swam as much as them and bit one in all them. The person referred to as for assist and an ambulance took him to the hospital for therapy. Officials at Okemah Lake mentioned that it was uncommon for a snake to chew somebody in the midst of the lake.

Check out probably the most snake infested lakes in Oklahoma.

3. Cat-Eating Albino Python Terrorizes Trailer Park

A 13-foot, yellow-colored reticulated python spent six months wreaking havoc inside a southeast Oklahoma City trailer park, terrifying residents and their pets. The deserted pet snake averted seize by three totally different consultants and two dogs for months earlier than being wrangled by a trailer park resident.

Reticulated pythons are the longest snakes on this planet, and are native to South and Southeast Asia. While not venomous, these big snakes kill their prey by suffocation after they wind their our bodies round their victims. Reptile consultants reported that the escaped pet wouldn’t be as harmful to people as a wild python would have been.

As far because the neighborhood cats go, that’s a distinct story. Residents reported a spate of lacking felines through the python’s months-long caper, so whereas he may not have bitten any people, the runaway snake left his mark on the resident cat inhabitants. We’re giving the cats a vote this time and together with this snake-on-the-run in Oklahoma’s three most notable snake chew incidents this 12 months.

“We’re talking, that thing has been eating opossums, foot-long rats, and cats,” one of many professionals employed to catch the snake advised the native information. “The mouth on that thing is the size of your foot and when it opens up you’re going to be able to fit something pretty large in there.” 

What to Do If a Snake Bites Someone

According to CDC suggestions, anybody bitten by a snake ought to instantly name 911 or poison management. Additionally, the Oklahoma Poison Center urges residents to do not forget that snake bites are treatable, and anybody bitten by a snake ought to sit down and keep calm. If doable, wash the wound with cleaning soap and water and take away tight clothes and jewellery as swelling is probably going. Keep the bitten space nonetheless and rise to coronary heart degree. The most necessary objective, nevertheless, is to get the sufferer to a healthcare facility.

What Not to Do When a Snake Bites

Snake chew consultants insist that many frequent misconceptions about what to do after a snake chew can truly trigger extra hurt. The Oklahoma Poison Center warns in opposition to any of the next actions:

• Do not use any type of suction.
• Do not apply a tourniquet. It is healthier for the venom to movement by way of the physique than keep in a single space.
• Do not try to catch or kill the snake. 
• Do not apply ice. Ice could trigger further tissue harm.
• Do not lower the wound.
• Do not give the victims sedatives or alcohol.

The photograph featured on the high of this publish is © Wirestock/iStock by way of Getty Images