My “Scute” Bite

Snakes have fascinated me, like many people, for my whole life. I grew up in Southern Indiana catching and releasing snakes in the wild as a kid. I graduated to keeping non-venomous snakes and then to keeping and working with venomous snakes.

In Arizona, I assisted the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and the Arizona Game and Fish Department with venomous reptile capture, rescue, holding and relocation. I also conducted educational presentations, including venomous and non-venomous snakes, to various groups and schools. I had special holding and capture permits from AZ Game and Fish. I was (and am) a member of the Arizona Herpetological Association (www.sloanmonster.com) and a volunteer for their snake relocation program. I also was (and am) a member of the Michigan Society of Herpetologists (www.michherp.org) and a viewer of the Southeastern Hot Herp Society web page (www.venomousreptiles.org).

I spent some time in Florida and assisted with the handling of many exotic venomous snakes including: Ophiophagus Hannah, Dendroaspis angusticeps, Bitis gabonica and Dendroaspis polyepsis among others.

I had handled, kept, milked and released hundreds of rattlesnakes and was as “comfortable” as I felt was possible with the handling and behavior of rattlesnakes. At the time I had 12 non-venomous species, 2 Crotalus atrox and 2 Crotalus scutulatus. The “scutes” were from the Cochise County area where the AZ Poison Control Center and some toxicologists are concerned that there may be some especially toxic “scutes”, not just with the Type A mojavetoxin but other unidentified toxic properties, based on the severity of bites and the resulting deaths.

On Saturday, June 3, 2006, I had unlocked and opened the cage of a particularly nasty “scute” to fill up the water bowl and to feed it. The snake was at the opposite end of the cage and I reached in with 18” tongs to grab the water bowl. Before I knew it (how many times have you heard that?) I got tagged on my right index finger between the first and second knuckles. I only got 1 fang as the other broke off on the tongs. I locked the cage and noticed a drop of venom on the outside of the fang mark so I knew it wasn't a dry bite.

Although I never expected to get bitten, I knew it was always a possibility so I didn't panic. I wiped the venom off my finger and immediately felt the “burn” associated with rattlesnake bites. I went in the house and told my 16 year old son, Jose', that I just took a bite from one of the rattlesnakes and here is where I made a decision contrary to common belief that probably saved my life. I decided to drive myself to the hospital and here's why.

Our local hospital has had some issues in the past with snakebite victims. Since I knew there were some toxicological concerns with the local “scutes” I wanted to be sure the treating physicians knew exactly what they were dealing with, what symptoms were likely to occur and what to do about them. I also wanted to be awake long enough to let them know that I knew what I was talking about and knew exactly what type of snake bit me. I didn't think I had time to call paramedics, explain everything to them, get taken to the hospital and explain everything again.

The hospital was only 4 or 5 miles away and I made it there within 5 minutes of the bite. By the way, I told my son to tell my wife about the bite AFTER I had left for the hospital. I knew there would be drama there because my wife is not a snake fan.

At the hospital, I was ushered into the ER immediately and began telling the physicians that I was bitten by a Mojave rattlesnake, Crotalus scutulatus, with Type A venom, showed them the bite site and explained the progression of my symptoms. About a minute later, my lips and the fingers of my left hand, the one not bitten, started tingling. The burning sensation, which REALLY f-ing hurts by the way, continued to progress into my right hand.

I started feeling weak and began to experience tunnel vision. The tingling in my lips and hand turned to numbness and the tunnel vision began to get worse until I could not see. About 15 minutes after the bite I passed out. My airway started closing and, even with the smallest gauge airway tube, they could barely get me intubated. The tube scraped down my throat because of the swelling and my mouth filled with blood. They gave me 6 vials of CroFab and sent me to the University Medical Center in Tucson via helicpter.

At the UMC Intensive Care Unit, I was given 48 more vials of CroFab and was unconscious for 10 days. The doctors told my wife that they did not know from minute to minute while I was out if I would make it or not. I stayed in ICU for 15 days and was released. I lost 30 pounds and was very weak for about a month and a half.

Because of the Type A venom, I did not have a lot of local tissue damage and did not lose my finger. The doctors and toxicologists are not sure whether it was the extra strong venom of the Cochise County “scute”, but I did have an anaphylactic reaction to the venom itself not the CroFab. Chris Harper of the Southeastern Hot Herp Society wrote an informative article about this a few years ago. It is possible that my handling and close contact with rattlesnakes over the years caused me to develop an allergy to the venom.

An MD/toxicologist and a toxicologist in Tucson are using my blood and the venom from the snake to try and isolate the toxin that may or may not be present in the Cochise County “scutes”. They will also discover if I was actually allergic to the venom.

My stay at the local hospital (under 1 hour) cost $16,000. The helicopter flight from there to Tucson cost $13,000. My stay at the hospital in Tucson cost $300,000 - very expensive for a hobby that was not bringing any money in.

AZ Poison Control Center has my rattlesnakes and I had to get rid of my non-venomous snakes, too because my wife will not tolerate snakes around the house after my near-death experience.

A member of the AHS once said, “What works a million times may not work a million and one”. This pretty much sums up my experience.

Kenny Duke

Sierra Vista Snakes

Lowell, MI

kenneth.duke@dhs.gov