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So it turns out that whole “I thought it was a stick in the mall parking lot but oh my goodness it was actually a cobra, in Baltimore… in freezing weather” story didn’t hold together.

BALTIMORE — Police with the Department of Natural Resources have charged a woman with possession of a venomous snake after she recently claimed she was bitten by one.

Last month, 58-year-old Betsy Nighthorse claimed she was bitten by a cobra that she discovered in a White Marsh parking lot.

Police investigating her claim found another snake — a Neo Tropical Rattlesnake — at her home in Hydes. The snake was about 4 feet long and 4 inches in diameter.

The rattlesnake was taken to the Catoctin Mountain Zoo in Thurmont, as was the cobra.
Nighthorse is due in court in April. She could get a $1,000 for each count.

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ALEXANDRIA, MINN. - Jason Raasch was driving home from a trip to Missouri when he looked down and saw a rattlesnake in his car.

“I was pretty scared, because I’d never even seen a rattlesnake except for at the zoo, so for it to be in the car and to bite me to top it off was pretty scary,” Raasch said.

It happened at the intersection of I-94 and Highway 27 in Alexandria. Raasch said he didn’t know the snake was there until it bit him. Raasch’s friend rushed him to Douglas County Hospital where an ambulance took him to HCMC.  A few days later, Raasch developed pancreatitis, which was the start of his insurance problems.

“My health insurance would only cover so many days of my stay, and it just so happens that on that amount of days I was discharged,” Raasch explained.

The CT scans of Raasch’s stomach show a large mass by his pancreas.  Dr. Shawn Lanman with Alexandria Clinic found the mass and send Raasch to the University of Minnesota; however, they told him there was no mass.  Even though Raasch has proof there is in fact a mass in his stomach, the UofM won’t help him.

Raasch experiences intense stomach pain on a daily basis.  The pain is so great; his doctor isn’t allowing him to work at all.  Now Raasch can’t pay his bills.

“I’ve got bills.  I’ve got rent.  I mean I have all kinds of bills that need to be paid, and I can’t pay any of them,” Raasch said.

Those bills include his health insurance.  His insurance doesn’t cover most of his medical care, or some of his prescriptions.  The insurance won’t cover the 12 hour surgery Raasch needs to remove the mass.  He thinks that’s the reason Mayo and the UofM won’t help him.

“My insurance won’t cover it, and they won’t even see me without health insurance,” Raasch explained.

If he doesn’t pay his bills, Raasch might lose his insurance altogether.

“If they drop my health insurance, I’m like a fish out of water,” Raasch said.

He hopes the health care reform bill working its way through WashingtonD.C. will help his situation.  Until then, he’ll have to wait.

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TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 28 (UPI) — A Florida truck driver was bitten by two species of poisonous snakes while trying to retrieve his runa

Spokesman Will Darnell says John Agin, 46, was the 13th snake bite patient treated at University Community Hospital this year, the St. Petersburg (Fla.,) Times reports.

Agin said he was walking his rat terrier, Lil Bit, Tuesday when the dog ran away from him.

While chasing her, he suddenly felt a sharp, stinging pain in his right shin and when he looked down he saw a 10-inch, red-and-yellow snake gnawing on his foot.

Hillsborough County paramedics identified one bite as belonging to a pygmy rattlesnake. Hospital workers said a second bite was probably inflicted by a coral snake.

“It’s not impossible for snakes of two different kinds to be in the same area at the same time,” said Lt. Lisa Wood of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s anti-venom unit.

Agan said it’s not the first time he’s been bitten by a snake. He’s also had encounters with a water moccasin, a diamondback rattlesnake and some non-venomous species.

“They happened mostly around my yard,” he said.

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Logger bitten by snake

By Lisa Tindell

news editor

Published:

Wednesday, October 21, 2009 9:22 AM CDT

One rattlesnake bite can lead to a serious situation, but a Brewton area man is living through the ordeal of having been bitten eight times.

Johnny Lavon Odom’s family is thankful for his life. Odom’s wife, Nancy, said he has spent more than three weeks in intensive care as a result of the incident, which took place in the Little River community in western Escambia County.

“He has been in ICU for 24 days,” Nancy said. “The doctors are saying we are just taking it a day at a time right now.”

Nancy said Odom is now able to sit up for a period of time but will remain in ICU until a ventilator is no longer needed.

“He is still on the ventilator some,” Nancy said. “The doctors are trying to build up his lungs so they take him off the ventilator for a little at a time. He will have to be off the ventilator before they can move him to a room on the floor.”

Nancy said the medical bills are continuing to mount with no planned release from the hospital in the near future.

“I’m not sure what the bill is right now,” Nancy said. “A couple of weeks ago one of the hospital staff members told me it was already near six figures.”

The log truck driver does not have any medical insurance, Nancy said.

“I don’t know exactly what we will do about that,” Nancy said. “We’ll just have to see what we can do.”

A rattlesnake bite can be debilitating or even deadly. Jackie Word, director of Turtle Point Science Center in Flomaton, said the age of the snake could have a great bearing on the amount of venom injected into a victim.

“Younger snakes have less control on the amount of venom they inject into their victim,” Word said. “They are more reckless and careless with their venom. Older snakes, on the other hand, have more control over their venom.”

Although Odom was reportedly bitten eight times, Word said chances are that venom wasn’t injected on every bite.

“Typically, it’s my belief that a snake’s venom supply is exhausted after two or possibly three bites,” Word said. “Of course, in a defense situation, typically snakes inject venom in smaller doses in repeated strikes.”

Nancy said she is not sure just what happened to her husband in the woods of the Little River community — and he does not remember.

“I’m not clear on exactly what happened out there,” Nancy said. “He’s very lucky though. He seems to be getting better. Right now, he’s just a little bored sitting in ICU.”

Physical therapists are working with Odom on a regular basis, Nancy said. His physicians have not determined a possible date for discharge, she said.

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A Dothan man has died from apparent snake bites.

Henry County coroner Derek Wright says 65-year-old Larry D. Lewis died Friday. Wright said he thought at first that Lewis died from heat stroke but then found two puncture wounds on Lewis’ body. Wright says Lewis was bitten on the right side of the neck and the right hand.

Wright says Lewis’ son found his father collapsed next to a tractor in a field on the family farm in Henry County. Wright estimates Lewis was bitten around 12 p.m. Friday, according to a story in The Dothan Eagle.

Wright says rescue workers didn’t find the snake, but he believes it was likely a rattlesnake.

Wright says the fact that Lewis was bitten in the neck is probably what made the attack fatal.

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A Winder man died Saturday morning after a rattlesnake bit him while he was hunting in Oglethorpe County with his grandson.

Dick Rupert, 68, got bitten in the calf at about 7:30 a.m. by a small rattlesnake in the woods off Thaxton Wynne Road south of U.S. Highway 78, Oglethorpe County Coroner James Mathews said.

Rupert died at Wills Memorial Hospital in Washington about an hour later, Mathews said.

The rattlesnake bit Rupert in the calf as he climbed down from a tree stand, he said.

Rupert tried to get back to the road on a four-wheeler driven by his 12-year-old grandson, but he passed out and fell off twice, Mathews said. He was unresponsive when Oglethorpe EMS workers arrived at 7:44 a.m.

“The grandson was doing CPR when our crew got there,” Mathews said. “But Mr. Rupert was already in full cardiac arrest.”

The puncture marks on Rupert’s calf could barely be seen, Mathews said.

Thaxton Wynne Road runs between U.S. 78 and Georgia Highway 22 about seven miles southeast of Lexington, not far from the Wilkes County border.

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Lightning strikes, rattler bites man in two-day span

What are the chances?

By JB Miller

Published Friday, September 18, 2009 1:11 PM MDT

It was getting to be rather a ho-hum weekend at the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District firehouse when Mother Nature struck from sky and earth.�

On the afternoon of Sept. 13, Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department (SEFD) personnel responded to Rain Valley after a lightning strike ignited a fire that burned nearly three acres near a subdivision. �

“Lucky for us it rained shortly after the strike so all we had to do was basically mop up,” said SEFD Battalion Chief Kevin Venos. “People right now think we’re in good shape, but we still need to keep our eyes peeled.”

On Sept. 14, a local construction worker was brought to the station to be treated for a rattlesnake bite.� The snake struck the worker after he lifted a piece of sheet metal.�

“The poor fellow got hammered good,” said Venos.�

Emergency personnel knew the man was bitten in the leg by a Mojave rattlesnake because the worker’s boss decapitated the snake and brought it in a bucket. Venos said that isn’t necessary anymore because the anti-venom is the same for all snake bites. �

“It looked like it hit him twice,” said Venos. “That’s an automatic helicopter ride.”�

The patient, “a young adult,” was flown to University Medical Center in Tucson.�

Lightning strikes, rattler bites man in two-day span

What are the chances?

By JB Miller

Published Friday, September 18, 2009 1:11 PM MDT

It was getting to be rather a ho-hum weekend at the Sonoita-Elgin Fire District firehouse when Mother Nature struck from sky and earth.�

On the afternoon of Sept. 13, Sonoita-Elgin Fire Department (SEFD) personnel responded to Rain Valley after a lightning strike ignited a fire that burned nearly three acres near a subdivision. �

“Lucky for us it rained shortly after the strike so all we had to do was basically mop up,” said SEFD Battalion Chief Kevin Venos. “People right now think we’re in good shape, but we still need to keep our eyes peeled.”

On Sept. 14, a local construction worker was brought to the station to be treated for a rattlesnake bite.� The snake struck the worker after he lifted a piece of sheet metal.�

“The poor fellow got hammered good,” said Venos.�

Emergency personnel knew the man was bitten in the leg by a Mojave rattlesnake because the worker’s boss decapitated the snake and brought it in a bucket. Venos said that isn’t necessary anymore because the anti-venom is the same for all snake bites. �

“It looked like it hit him twice,” said Venos. “That’s an automatic helicopter ride.”�

The patient, “a young adult,” was flown to University Medical Center in Tucson.�

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You have to click through for the pictures. Incredibly large.

Huge Snake Found In St. Augustine Neighborhood (PIC)

By

Adam Kirk – Morning News Producer

@ October 1, 2009 4:30 AM Permalink | Comments (16)

It’s thicker than your arm… and taller than most basketball players… and it was found in a St. Augustine neighborhood.

The 7 foot 3 inch Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake made its way into Tuscany Village, off State Road 16 and I-95.

When someone spotted it, they called police, who called a professional trapper.

Brandon Booth caught it and killed it.

“When I got there, I looked at it and said, ‘That’s bigger than 6 feet,’” Booth said. “I didn’t have time to really think. I just jumped out of the truck with my gig and got him. He wasn’t going to get away.”

Photos Courtesy of our news partner Channel 4 and Jason Huntley.

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ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida — A 27-year-old Palm Coast man has been hospitalized after being bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake while shopping for a fern at a Walmart garden center.

Jeriel Joiner told the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office that he was bitten on his right pointer finger in the garden center at a Walmart store in St. Augustine.

The snake was still holding on when he knocked it off. A Walmart employee killed the snake with a broom.

Joiner was hospitalized in the Flagler Hospital in serious condition on Wednesday.

According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, doctors administered an antivenin, but Joiner had a severe allergic reaction. Joiner was given a number of allergy medicines to stop the reaction, and was moved to the intensive care unit at Shands Hospital in Jacksonville.

Joiner’s fiancee, Rhiannon Gross, said on Thursday the swelling that was once in just one finger had spread through his right hand and up his arm.

Gross said the doctors gave them the option of taking the antivenin again as a slower pace and in diluted form, but that they would have to sign a waiver. They turned down the option.

According to Gross, Joiner could get permanent nerve damage, arm paralysis and amputation.

The couple is considering a lawsuit, saying Walmart did nothing to help them until an “elderly greeter” shooed the snake away.

He is the fourth person bitten since 2006 at the company’s stores in Florida.

Walmart spokesman Dan Fogleman in Bentonville, Ark., said the safety of customers and employees is a top priority. The garden center is closed while the company works to ensure it is safe.

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ST. AUGUSTINE, FL — A local Walmart had an unwelcome guest Tuesday, and it left a customer in the hospital.

According to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, a man was looking at some plants in the garden center Tuesday afternoon, and dropped a baby bottle.

The bottle rolled under the plastic shelves that were holding the plants.

When he reached under the shelf to get the bottle, he felt a bite.

He pulled his hand out, and a baby pigmy rattlesnake was holding on to his finger.

He knocked the snake off and a Walmart associate killed the snake.

Rescue personnel took the man to Flagler Hospital for treatment. He was in critical condition, but was stabilized. He was then taken to Shands in Jacksonville, where he is in serious condition as of Wednesday afternoon.