Jody Farr

Texas has its fair share of venomous snakes. Most encounters can be managed, but not totally eliminated. Growing up in west Texas I’ve seen more than my share of snakes, both venomous and non-venomous, and as a paramedic I’ve treated many snake bites.

Here in Texas the venomous snakes fall into two categories: crotalids (the most common) and elapids. We’ll discuss elapid envenomation in a future article. Crotalinae is the subfamily for all rattlesnakes, cotton mouths, and copper heads. These are the snakes that come to mind when we think of snakebites.

Most snake bites occur for typically one of two reasons. The first being that the patient did not see the snake and accidentally stepped on it. The second reason is that they were trying to pick up the snake or play with it. This sounds very stupid but it does happen. A lot. [Read More…]

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