While I am at posting a few things that have made me roll my eyes that I have seen lately, but cant respond in detail to all of it... Every so often when garter snakes (Thamnophis) get brought up (and their venom) people sometimes bring up a story of a girl in California (it wasnt) that apparently died from a garter snake bite. Someone then often responds with something along the lines of allergic reaction to saliva. There is so much wrong with this, and I am posting another reference and abstract to show why. The girl did not die, but it was quite a serious bite. It was not a reaction to the saliva, it was venom that caused her injury...and she was NOT allergic. As far as I know, this is the most severe case from Thamnophis bite though. Human envenomation from the bite of the eastern garter snake, Thamnophis s. sirtalis (Serpentes: Colubridae) William K. Hayes1, Floyd E. Hayes2 a Department of Biological Sciences, Walla Walla College, College Place, WA 99324, U.S.A. b Department of Biology, Loma Linda University, Riverside, CA 92505, U.S.A. Accepted 9 January 1985, Available online 8 November 2002 Show less DOI: 10.1016/0041-0101(85)90376-9 Abstract A 13-yr-old victim of a prolonged eastern garter snake (Thamnophis s. sirtalis) bite was hospitalized following development of coolness, edema and ecchymosis of the bitten hand. Although lymphatic involvement was noted, vital signs and laboratory tests were normal and rapid recovery followed. Subsequent asymptomatic Thamnophis bites of the subject indicate that these clinical changes were not allergic. This case from Delaware suggests that widespread toxicity within the genus is likely. Copyright © 1985 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 10:59:25 +0000
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