[burntlizard]

A 5 year old girl received a bite from a Rattlesnake last night. This happened around I-17 and Carefree Hwy.

Watch you little ones while hiking.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/northvalley/articles/2012/03/23/20120323phoenix-girl-hiking-snake-bite-abrk.html

[WilliamnWendi]

I heard about this on kjzz. I am glad she is doing good.

[Alston Neal]

We saw a very healthy, although slow rattler right next to the main Spur Cross trail Sunday.
I always worry about kids and dogs here cuz so many folks are oblivious and think it's Disneyland.
One family who were definately not from around here asked..What do we do if we run into one?
Uh, leave it alone and go around it?

[big_load]

I saw the first snake of the year in NJ in February. It was a freakishly warm winter. I don't usually see Timber Rattlesnakes or Copperheads until mid-May.

[azbackpackr]

In Costa Rica the fer-de-lance is far more dangerous, poisonous and aggressive than our rattlesnakes. I am told you have four hours to get yourself to treatment with the anti-venin, or you will die. That may be some hyperbole, but I did read up on it a bit, and it seems it is a pit viper, similar to a rattlesnake, but with deadlier venom.

[Alston Neal]

Holy snickers I will take a noise making rattler any day.
Btw, I went to wikipedia for your Bothrops asper aka the "ultimate pit viper" to read up on it.
I chose not to link the snake victim photo they had......

[Outdoor Lover]

@azbackpackr
It probably uses a neurotoxin as the main makeup of it's venom. That's why some of the non U.S. Vipers are among the most dangerous and deadly in the world. It works as a paralytic, thus breathing and heart can stop within hours of being bitten, depending on the size of the person and how much venom is delivered. There are only two snakes in AZ that have this type of venom. The Coral Snake, which is small by viper standards and does not deliver nearly the amount of venom as some of the other world's vipers do, and the Mohave Rattlesnake, which can be confused with the Western Diamondback. It is the deadliest rattlesnake you will encounter in AZ, as it carries both the more familiar toxin of most of the other Rattlesnakes in the Southwest, but also the neurotoxin that causes paralysis. And can deliver a very unhealthy dose....
Just a little FYI....

[azbackpackr]

Holy snickers I will take a noise making rattler any day.
Btw, I went to wikipedia for your Bothrops asper aka the "ultimate pit viper" to read up on it.
I chose not to link the snake victim photo they had......

But now that everyone is dying of curiosity, you can look if you want to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothrops_a ... C.26L04-15

The landscapes, trees, etc. in Costa Rica often remind me of Hawaii, where I lived for 8 years. But in Hawaii you never have to watch out for snakes, because there aren't any!

[Sun Ray]

Just looked at pic on website above...OMG

[base871]

That looks like it stings a bit.....

[kingsnake]

Deadly, inbred -- never a good combination as "Deliverance" taught us -- and one of them every square meter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilha_da_Queimada_Grande

[gummo]

Holy snickers I will take a noise making rattler any day.
Btw, I went to wikipedia for your Bothrops asper aka the "ultimate pit viper" to read up on it.
I chose not to link the snake victim photo they had......

But now that everyone is dying of curiosity, you can look if you want to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothrops_a ... C.26L04-15

The landscapes, trees, etc. in Costa Rica often remind me of Hawaii, where I lived for 8 years. But in Hawaii you never have to watch out for snakes, because there aren't any!

Hawaii has blind snakes (an invasive species that appears not to be harmful to the ecosystem) and will occasionally will get sea snakes, but sea snakes sightings are very rare and not a stable population exists.

[kingsnake]

But wait! It get's scarier! I present the Titanoboa, a snake that could swallow alligators. (Without bursting, unlike that famous Florida golf course photo ...)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17544885

[chumley]

OK, now you're moving back into the invasive species thread. I still think that any snake that can eat a deer is no friend of mine.
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=6526

[Alston Neal]

My wife and I were talking about rattlers the other night and realized that even though we're seeing them on our hikes, we've seen more at Spur Cross than average.
Is it just a perfect little ecology for them?
Or with the explosive growth in North Scotts. and Cavecreek/Carefree the snake and pest control folks are moving them not that far out.
Afterall with the price of gas being what it is and time is money, just how far away are these people relocating the snakes?
Looking at G.E. at the amount of desert being built upon and figuring out how many rattlers per square mile there are, that would be a huge amount of rattlers moved just to the edge of current growth.
Btw, the great mural at Spur Cross on the parks building has no rattlers on it....hmmmmm....curious.
I would of put at least 3 in the mural as a wake call to folks not familiar with the what the desert has.

[big_load]

I still think that any snake that can eat a deer is no friend of mine.

It depends how bad your deer infestation is. I'm still trying to convince the bears to eat deer, but they seem to prefer grubs and raspberries, with a can of garbage whenever they can get one.

[Outdoor Lover]

Just when you thought it was safe to be indoors.....

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articl ... snake.html

[chumley]

Stupid people aren't safe anywhere.

[azpride]

He thought it was a stick???

[CannondaleKid]

A vibrating stick