After NorCal rattlesnake bite, man needs 54 doses of antivenom to survive

[hunter]

2. When I was in college before we went out on botany field trips we'd have a guest speaker who got bit.

His hand was a crumpled mess. The snake had bitten him while he was climbing rocks.

He had a set of slides that showed his progress from the time he was bitten to the partial recovery of the use of his hand. These were even gorier than the pictures in this article.

I think it made a big impression. Nobody was going to be careless in rattlesnake habitat.

I'd been struck at by a rattlesnake before. I was fortunate the snakes fangs did not penetrate my boot but it left a mark.

I've had dozens of rattlesnake encounters and they snakes have always been reasonable. You leave them alone, they leave you alone. They are dangerous when they are surprised or threatened.

Unfortunately for us the snakes are well camouflaged and it's pretty easy to surprise them when we are stomping around carelessly off the trail.