| Posted: Sun Oct 23rd, 2005 06:55 PM |
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Timberghozt
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Girl May Lose Arm After School Snake Bite October 23, 2005 11:52 AM EDT POTTSTOWN, Pa. - A 14-year-old girl may lose her arm after being bitten by a poisonous copperhead snake at school, authorities said.
The snake was caught in Valley Forge by a 17-year-old male student, who took it in a shoebox to a drama club gathering at St. Pius X High School on Friday, Lower Pottsgrove Police Chief Ray Bechtel said. No regular classes were held that day, which was designated for staff development.
The boy was showing the reptile to other students when it bit the girl's finger, Bechtel said.
The girl, whose name was not released by police, apparently threw the snake across the room and the boy threw it outside. The snake was not found, but authorities were able to identify it because the boy photographed it with his camera cellphone, said Bechtel.
The victim was treated at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center about 45 minutes after being bitten, he said.
"The doctors said if it had been a half-hour longer she would likely have been dead," said Bechtel.
However, police said she could still lose her arm.
Police did not have an update on the girl's condition Sunday. She had been in very serious condition at Hershey Medical Center.
No charges were filed but police said they were investigating.
Copperhead snake bites are typically not fatal but are extremely painful and may cause extensive scarring and loss of limb use, according to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension of North Carolina State University.
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On the Net:
North Carolina Cooperative Extension: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/gaston/Pests/reptiles/copperhead.htm
I was always under the assumption that a Copperhead bite though poisonous and painful was not this serious. My Grandmother was bitten as a child on the ankle by a copperhead and told me the swelling and pain was terrible.Doc`s, is this a rare occurence for a Copperhead bite to be this serious or is rather common?
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23rd, 2005 11:25 PM |
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Charley
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I had an uncle who was bitten by a copperhead just above the ankle back in the mid 1960s. As I recall, he was hospitalized for about a week. Didn't lose any use of his leg, or any major tissue, but he was damned sick.
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23rd, 2005 11:34 PM |
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Texasdoc
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Copperhead Snake
Agkistrodon contortrix
The Copperhead is the most common venomous snake found in the eastern US. It is also known by the name "Highland Moccasin." As a species, it belongs to the genus "Agkistrodon" which also includes the Cottonmouth, also known as the "Water Moccasin".
Copperheads are usually colorful and strikingly patterned snakes. They derive their name from the copper-like coloring of the head. The background color of the back and sides is tan to pinkish. There are darker, chestnut colored bands across the back and sides. Each band is of varing width, often described as hour-glass shaped. Newborn Copperheads are colored and patterned like adults, excepting the last inch of so of the tail which will be a bright, sulfur yellow color.
Adults are usually in the range of 24 to 36 inches in length, although specimens of greater than 42 inches are not rare. They give live birth to young. Copperheads eat small rodents, birds, lizards, snakes, amphibians, and insects.
Copperheads are venomous, pit vipers. Copperheads account for more cases of venomous snake bite than any of our other species. Fortunately, their venom is the least toxic of our species. Bites from Copperheads are very seldom fatal; however, a bite may still produce serious consequences.
There are 2 subspecies of Copperheads occuring in South Carolina. Both subspecies appear very similar, although the Southern is usually lighter colored. The most widespread is the Southern Copperhead which ranges from the coast to the upper Piedmont. The Northern Copperhead is found in the Mountains and upper Piedmont. It is probable that most of the specimens from the Piedmont are intergrades although my experience has been that most appear more like Southerns.
Copperheads can be found in most all habitats, although they often prefer to be near streams and other waterways. They may be found on hilltops or lowlands. It is not unusual for Copperheads to be found in forested or undeveloped areas within and near suburban developments. The Copperhead is one of the most successful of our larger snake species. It is usually not difficult to find a Copperhead crossing a road on a warm summer night. Because of their habit of freezing at the approach of danger, many are killed by vehicle traffic.
Copperheads prefer habitats with lots of vines, vegetation and/or debris. Their coloration and patterning is very effective for camouflage in dead leaves on the forest floor. Copperheads rely upon camouflage and cover for safety. When danger is perceived, Copperheads will usually freeze in place and remain motionless for the threat to pass. This strategy works well in their natural habitat. Unless a person steps on them, grasps them, or otherwise comes very, very close to them, Copperheads will not usually bite. However, the bite will be readily used as a last defence. An agitated Copperhead will vibrate its tail rapidly. The relative abundance of Copperheads and their occurrences near human habitations is the reason bites from Copperheads are at the top of venomous snake bite statistics in the eastern US.
Ok, with that said,Copperheads are some of the bad of the snakes. I have been bite by one and only got a swellowen hand. But remember that a Snakes Mouth is not the best or cleanest place.
Let Me state this Ant Snake bite is SERIOUS!!!!! Ok remember that it's the Amount of Poison thats injected is how serious. I have seen large amoungs injected to a what is called a Dry Bite where noting is .
Its getting that time where we are all going out in to the areas that Snakes live and we all need to be careful and watch where we sit and walk.
Doc
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24th, 2005 11:29 PM |
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sdb777
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Still think that the only good snake is a DEAD one!
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 01:19 AM |
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Texasdoc
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Me too.
Doc
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Guard your wallet when I`m around.I steal from everyone I can and lie at every word I speak..I am the ultimate scumbag lying piece of crap.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 02:34 AM |
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Timberghozt
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I won`t kill good snakes(the non poisonous variety)..I don`t buy in to Steve Irwin the croc man and all these other whackos on tv that handle and play with deadly snakes ideas that they should be left unharmed.Sorry, but anything that can hurt or kill a youngun or an unsuspecting pet is gonna die around me.They have their place in nature but if I run across a rattler,copperhead,coral snake or moccasin he`s fixin to eat lead, no questions asked..
I am sure PETA would object to my ways but then again,they can kiss my @ss too... If it has venom and I see it, it`s gonna die....,...
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"He who fights with monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster; For if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - F.Nietzche
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 03:27 AM |
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Charley
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Still think that the only good snake is a DEAD one!
Can't agree with that at all. Every animal has its place, I would no more kill all snakes than kill all spiders or rodents.
I will kill poisonous snakes if they are located where it is likely that someone could be bitten, but why kill ALL snakes? I've got a checkered garter snake that lives in my rose bed. Cool snake, about 18-20 inches long. I've seen him take toads (BTW, the checkered garter is one of the few snakes that can eat toads. Ever see how sick your dog gets the first time he tries to eat a toad?) and it is a pretty neat show. They're just animals, they ain't gonna hunt you down, and they have little intrest in biting something they can't eat.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 04:02 AM |
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Timberghozt
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lol..P.S. I hate scorpions too.Damned hatefulest things ever created.Hurt like the dickens too...Squash them with a boot heel on sight..
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"He who fights with monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster; For if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - F.Nietzche
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| Posted: Tue Oct 25th, 2005 12:35 PM |
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Charley
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Scorpions are kickass predators. Think of them as the wolves of the arthropod world. Striped scorpions around here are no real threat, just hurt like Hell. I admire their role in nature. That said, I've stated here before I won't sleep on the groud until the temperature drops, because of scorpions.
Attachment: stripedscorpion.jpg (Downloaded 48 times)
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