In the snake's defense, it probably felt threatened by a person picking it up.

Stupidity caused hikers death, He picked up a rattlesnake.

Could we at least learn the basics about which snakes are dangerous?

Just admire them from a safe distance and leave it at that.

Back in 1963, my sons' second cousin was fishing in southern Delaware County, NY. He was in his teens. At some point, he found what he thought would be good bait, and attempted to put his hook into it.

That evening, his body was found, along with a baby rattlesnake on the fish hook.

At the time, it was thought rattlers did not come north of the rock ledges and river near Hancock, NY. But they sure did. One of my late friends, a Native American, hunted them sunning themselves on rock ledges on hot days. He ate the meat in soup, and used the skins to decorate the leather-work he was known for. I have a pair of snakeskin boots still, though I haven't worn them in decades.

Happen from the elbow down.

They said he may have been allergic.

precautions.

Sad... (and lest anyone still believe baby venomous snakes (rattlesnakes and others) cannot kill, I've got news for you, but that is a continuously repeated canard.

This sounds like more a case of (relatively) bad luck than anything–the article says he pretty much dropped dead, he was found "about a half mile down the trail, where he had been bitten. [Rescuers] immediately started CPR and rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead." It then goes on to say an allergic reaction was suspected.

The NIH puts the fatality rate from rattler bites at 1 in 736, but even then, absent a freak event like being allergic, "You're not going to die in minutes. It's not a black mamba."

So bottom line…OFC don't PICK UP A FRIGGIN' RATTLER, but if you do ever get bitten, you (probably) aren't going to suffer this guy's fate.

You can die over time from the venom. But there are rare cases where people go into anaphylactic shock from an allergic reaction to the venom. Those cases are very severe and can happen quickly. They are more likely to occur in those that have been previously exposed.


One other thing, large rattlers have large fangs. If you are bit, and the fang enters an artery, the venom can almost immediately get to your vitals versus spreading slowly up a limb.

But that's just bad luck, not the "normal" outcome of a bite.

A intravenous envenomation is definitely a Bad Thing, but I'd also lump that under "bad luck", it's not like the critter is aiming for that nice bulge in your elbow…just a one-in-a-million chance.

I would imagine the test for such an allergy is probably unpleasant.

I think I'll just add to the old wisdom: "Leaves of three, or if it rattles, let it be"

I grew up ranging all across northwest CT/SE Mass/NY, I've been on more than one hike in a nice rocky area and heard the buzz, sometimes just looked around and carefully proceeded, a few times definitely looked at the trail ahead, saw the guy, and slowly backed off a few steps before turning around…they REALLY don't want to bite you and will make that VERY clear, they're like the least threatening venomous snakes ever, but it was always still in the back of my mind that "oh, even if I step on a sleeping one and it does bite me I'm not gonna die on the spot".

The NIH paper I linked does say that most rattler fatalities are "intoxicated males", i.e. drunk-ass rednecks…

The bigger the timber rattlesnake is might lead to a larger dose of venom.

Btw back in the day a professor let me know know where I could
see timber rattlesnakes crawl out of their den and sun themselves on some
rocks in the spring. He made me promise never to tell the location of the
den because “mouth breathers” would want to kill them. It was really neat
and I never felt threatened by the snakes because I gave them their space.

I killed a copperhead @ 18 in S.E. Ohio and I have felt bad about it ever since.

Per the article, the guy was found a half-mile from where he was bitten, which is a 15 minute walk for a hiker, even allowing for the bite it wouldn't take more than 30 minutes to go that far…the inland taipan is the only snake that can reliably kill a person in 30 minutes. Timber rattlers are the most venomous of all the rattlers, but an untreated bite will still take a day or two to kill you.

This guy was insanely stupid, but also unlucky.

Rattlesnakes dose of venom might be smaller because it is meant for animals
that are smaller than humans such as rabbits and mice.

Btw I thought the Florida Diamondback had the most toxic venom of our rattlesnakes.

…but it's relatively mild so it's not as horrible as a taipan or a sea snake. They inject 10x as much, but it's 100x less lethal.

The Eastern/Florida rattler does have a more potent/toxic venom than the timber rattler, but even though it will kill you in a day rather than two, you still have plenty of time in the world to get to a hospital and get the antivenom.

Not even the Dubois' sea snake? I used to be heavily into snakes as an early teen, and remember hearing about that one.

Aipysurus duboisii 0.044mg/kg

Oxyuranus microlepidotus 0.025mg/kg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aipysurus_duboisii
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_taipan