spectr17
09-02-2001, 11:30 AM
Snake poses double hazard.
By BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff
A group of Billings friends learned last weekend that there are good reasons to leave rattlesnakes alone, especially on federal park lands.
The first lesson is that rattlers can appear dead, then whip around and bite a person. The second is that every resource in the national park system, even the snake, is protected by law.
Ryan Hirschi, 24, and his friends were on Afterbay Reservoir on the Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area Sunday when a rattlesnake swam up to their boat. Randy Boyles hit the snake with an oar and stunned the snake, which rolled over and floated in the water. Hirschi grabbed the snake, was bit and ended up in intensive care. A National Park Service Ranger ticketed Boyles for “disturbing wildlife,” a penalty with a $75 fine.
Boyles said he would fight the ticket because he felt threatened by the snake. The rattler could have climbed into his 16-foot aluminum boat, which was riding low under a load of five fishermen, he said.
“I’d do it all over again,” Boyles said. “Who is to say he couldn’t have got into the boat and went after us?”
Bighorn Canyon Ranger Lance Twombly, who issued the ticket, said “bothering, molesting or disturbing” wildlife is an offense aimed at protecting park resources, including snakes. Twombly said the group incited the snake by attacking and grabbing it. Had the snake been killed, Twombly said, the fine would have been $500.
Hirschi was bit in the knuckle of his right index finger and has swelling up to his shoulder.
Rattled rattler
Hirschi, Boyles, Shawn Friedt and two others were in the boat about 25 yards off shore when they crossed paths with the snake. Hirschi said the rattler “swam right to the boat, sat at the side and stared right at us.” The snake was partially coiled up and in “strike mode,” Hirschi said.
Boyles said he grabbed an oar and whacked the snake twice.
“It flipped upside down, curled up like a donut and floated there,” Hirschi said.
Hirschi owns a 9-foot Columbian Red-tailed boa constrictor and is not afraid of snakes. So he grabbed the rattler behind its head where he believed it could not turn to bite him.
“It was playing possum,” Boyles said.
The next few moments played out in slow-motion, the men said. The snake turned its head and got one fang into Hirschi’s knuckle. As Hirschi grabbed the rattler to pull it off, its other fang came out and dug into the knuckle. Hirschi gave the snake a vicious squeeze and was able to pull it off. The friends said it was a sight to see Hirschi holding the 3-foot snake straight out with his left hand while he sucked on the bitten right knuckle.
“We finally got it through his head that he needed to get rid of the snake,” Friedt said.
What they do in the movies
Hirschi received a crash course in how to treat a snake bite.
“You never suck out the venom,” Hirschi said.
Trying to remove the venom with the mouth introduces it into the body in another manner, he said. Sores in the mouth, even cavities, and the two arteries under the tongue – where it is so effective to dissolve pills – can send venom into the body, Hirschi said.
Doctors later told the group that it is best to soak the bite in ice water. The cold helps slow the spread of the venom. Snake bite kits should be used within the first few minutes to get the venom, Hirschi said.
Hirschi said that initially he was calm and told his friends there was no problem and they could continue fishing. But he quickly realized how wrong he was. The squeeze he gave the snake to remove it actually pushed a major dose of venom into his bloodstream.
“I could feel it (the venom) crawl up my arm, into my shoulder and chest,” Hirschi said. “It started affecting my breathing, and when it hit my stomach I was really hurting.”
The group headed for shore and took Hirschi to a fly shop in Fort Smith where they were later met by an ambulance from Hardin.
“I threw up constantly for about five hours. I had trouble breathing and seeing. I was dizzy and had no strength. I couldn’t sit up or stand on my own,” Hirschi said. “On the way to Hardin, I lost almost all bodily controls. I was pretty scared. I tried to talk, but English wasn’t coming out of my mouth. It was like I was really super drunk. I could hear, but I couldn’t talk.”
Hirschi said his skin was cold but sweaty and his pulse went from weak to rapid. The swelling was so intense his fingers stood straight out, he said.
Hirschi was given two vials of antivenin in Hardin. The serum is running low across the nation, with the only two laboratories that produce it having trouble meeting demand, according to the Associated Press.
“I kept wanting to give up but the doctors, paramedics and nurses wouldn’t let me,” Hirschi said. “They kept me conscious.”
Hirschi was taken by ambulance to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings where he received five more vials of antivenin and was admitted to the intensive care unit. Hirschi was released from the hospital Monday evening, earlier than doctors would have liked but as soon as the uninsured flooring installer could be released to keep his medical bills from climbing further, he said.
Hirschi must measure spots on his arm and hand several times a day to ensure that the swelling hasn’t increased. Hirschi said doctors expect the swelling to go down in 10 to 14 days. He will also suffer similar symptoms to those experienced after the bite as his body begins to identify the antivenin and tries to fight the serum.
Hirschi said he’s unlikely to make the same mistake twice.
“I was being stupid,” he said. “Good God, I don’t know what came over me ... I wanted to see its rattles.”
By BECKY SHAY Of The Gazette Staff
A group of Billings friends learned last weekend that there are good reasons to leave rattlesnakes alone, especially on federal park lands.
The first lesson is that rattlers can appear dead, then whip around and bite a person. The second is that every resource in the national park system, even the snake, is protected by law.
Ryan Hirschi, 24, and his friends were on Afterbay Reservoir on the Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area Sunday when a rattlesnake swam up to their boat. Randy Boyles hit the snake with an oar and stunned the snake, which rolled over and floated in the water. Hirschi grabbed the snake, was bit and ended up in intensive care. A National Park Service Ranger ticketed Boyles for “disturbing wildlife,” a penalty with a $75 fine.
Boyles said he would fight the ticket because he felt threatened by the snake. The rattler could have climbed into his 16-foot aluminum boat, which was riding low under a load of five fishermen, he said.
“I’d do it all over again,” Boyles said. “Who is to say he couldn’t have got into the boat and went after us?”
Bighorn Canyon Ranger Lance Twombly, who issued the ticket, said “bothering, molesting or disturbing” wildlife is an offense aimed at protecting park resources, including snakes. Twombly said the group incited the snake by attacking and grabbing it. Had the snake been killed, Twombly said, the fine would have been $500.
Hirschi was bit in the knuckle of his right index finger and has swelling up to his shoulder.
Rattled rattler
Hirschi, Boyles, Shawn Friedt and two others were in the boat about 25 yards off shore when they crossed paths with the snake. Hirschi said the rattler “swam right to the boat, sat at the side and stared right at us.” The snake was partially coiled up and in “strike mode,” Hirschi said.
Boyles said he grabbed an oar and whacked the snake twice.
“It flipped upside down, curled up like a donut and floated there,” Hirschi said.
Hirschi owns a 9-foot Columbian Red-tailed boa constrictor and is not afraid of snakes. So he grabbed the rattler behind its head where he believed it could not turn to bite him.
“It was playing possum,” Boyles said.
The next few moments played out in slow-motion, the men said. The snake turned its head and got one fang into Hirschi’s knuckle. As Hirschi grabbed the rattler to pull it off, its other fang came out and dug into the knuckle. Hirschi gave the snake a vicious squeeze and was able to pull it off. The friends said it was a sight to see Hirschi holding the 3-foot snake straight out with his left hand while he sucked on the bitten right knuckle.
“We finally got it through his head that he needed to get rid of the snake,” Friedt said.
What they do in the movies
Hirschi received a crash course in how to treat a snake bite.
“You never suck out the venom,” Hirschi said.
Trying to remove the venom with the mouth introduces it into the body in another manner, he said. Sores in the mouth, even cavities, and the two arteries under the tongue – where it is so effective to dissolve pills – can send venom into the body, Hirschi said.
Doctors later told the group that it is best to soak the bite in ice water. The cold helps slow the spread of the venom. Snake bite kits should be used within the first few minutes to get the venom, Hirschi said.
Hirschi said that initially he was calm and told his friends there was no problem and they could continue fishing. But he quickly realized how wrong he was. The squeeze he gave the snake to remove it actually pushed a major dose of venom into his bloodstream.
“I could feel it (the venom) crawl up my arm, into my shoulder and chest,” Hirschi said. “It started affecting my breathing, and when it hit my stomach I was really hurting.”
The group headed for shore and took Hirschi to a fly shop in Fort Smith where they were later met by an ambulance from Hardin.
“I threw up constantly for about five hours. I had trouble breathing and seeing. I was dizzy and had no strength. I couldn’t sit up or stand on my own,” Hirschi said. “On the way to Hardin, I lost almost all bodily controls. I was pretty scared. I tried to talk, but English wasn’t coming out of my mouth. It was like I was really super drunk. I could hear, but I couldn’t talk.”
Hirschi said his skin was cold but sweaty and his pulse went from weak to rapid. The swelling was so intense his fingers stood straight out, he said.
Hirschi was given two vials of antivenin in Hardin. The serum is running low across the nation, with the only two laboratories that produce it having trouble meeting demand, according to the Associated Press.
“I kept wanting to give up but the doctors, paramedics and nurses wouldn’t let me,” Hirschi said. “They kept me conscious.”
Hirschi was taken by ambulance to St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings where he received five more vials of antivenin and was admitted to the intensive care unit. Hirschi was released from the hospital Monday evening, earlier than doctors would have liked but as soon as the uninsured flooring installer could be released to keep his medical bills from climbing further, he said.
Hirschi must measure spots on his arm and hand several times a day to ensure that the swelling hasn’t increased. Hirschi said doctors expect the swelling to go down in 10 to 14 days. He will also suffer similar symptoms to those experienced after the bite as his body begins to identify the antivenin and tries to fight the serum.
Hirschi said he’s unlikely to make the same mistake twice.
“I was being stupid,” he said. “Good God, I don’t know what came over me ... I wanted to see its rattles.”