That Little Pig Bit Me!

That Little Pig Bit Me!

By Brad "Stretch" McKown

Several years ago I was road hunting in Carolina with a friend (JH). We had been there a few days and were about to leave when we spotted a Pigmy rattlesnake on the side of the road. JH was into hots, but had never handled a wild one, so he was insistent on pinning and picking this one up. He pinned the snake down and then hesitated on picking it up. He appeared to be putting a lot of pressure on the snake's neck so I decided to let the "pro" show how it was done.

I gently ( too gently) re-pinned the snake and started to pick it up when - in a flash - it had sunk one fang into the side of my index finger. I proceeded to let JH know that I had been bitten in a rather hasty tone. He laughed and thought I was joking around as usual until he saw the pin drop of blood on my finger.

Immediately I put my Sawyer Extractor over the bite and the blood filled the cup fairly quickly. I felt a slight burning sensation at the tip of my finger, but it was difficult to tell if it was from the venom or the suction of the extractor. I was thinking and praying, "Dry bite - dry bite !"

But this was not the case. JH drove me to the nearest hospital at about 80 mph, which was as fast as his poor little truck would go !

The hospital was about a 25 minute ride but for some reason I never panicked like I thought I would. JH was doing all the panicking for me!

I have a dry sense of humor and as we walked to the hospital entrance, I started staggering and slurring my speech. All probably in poor taste. :-) But this seemed to keep my mind off the seriousness of the situation.

We walked in the front door of this small town hospital and told the clerk behind the desk that I had been snake bitten. She instructed me on where to go and once I was in the emergency room, I was swarmed by medical staff.

I told the ER staff I had been fishing and ran out of bait, so I was flipping logs to find worms and didn't see the snake on the other side. I did this because I was too embarrassed to say that I had been purposely picking it up and proceeded to get bitten. :-o

As the ER doctor explained 'the effects of rattlesnake venom", I sat patiently as I felt I actually knew more than he did about it. They started several IVs immediately and my vitals were taken. A measurement of my hand was also taken. The ER doctor kept a close eye on me and on another hand measurement. He told me he would have to admit me if the swelling continued and I was tested for anti venom sensitivity. Then they began the administration of anti venom. Of course my hand also continued to swell, so I was admitted. Woo hoo.

Photo by Rob Nimmo

The whole process kept me in the hospital for 2 days, but wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be. Maybe because I was only hit with one fang instead of two and a heavier dose of venom. I never felt any other symptoms except nausea, which was only brought on by all the medication they gave me.

Several of my friends and some EMT's, and off duty doctors came to see me. Apparently they don't see snake bites very often. They said I was the "talk of the town". My, aren't I the popular one.

After almost 2 days, I was released with instructions to take antibiotics and that if anything changed, to contact my family doctor or ER physician. I returned home with a bandaged finger and a whole new outlook on life and immediately filled my prescription!

Several days passed and the tip of my finger was still jet black and considerably swollen. After about 4 or 5 days of intense swelling and constant throbbing pain, I followed the doctor's directions and went to my family doctor. She referred me to a hand specialist who watched my finger over the next couple of days. She decided that the swelling was cutting off the blood flow to the end of my finger so it could not heal. (Besides that, the swelling was very painful.)

The hand specialist decided to open my finger up and remove the dead tissue. I watched as he cut and scraped literally half of my finger away. The extent of the damage was evident where the fang had entered, the venom destroying all of the tissue. The doctor sent me home with a finger that looked like it had been in a meat grinder and told me to return in a few days for a follow up.

When I returned, he told me that the tissue was "healthy down low" and that now I was able to keep my finger. I said thanks although I never knew that losing it was an option !

He gave me a prescription of "Elase ointment", which would help remove the dead tissue so that the healthy tissue could replace it. After several days of taking the antibiotic that I had been given by the hospital, I started getting red bumps on my arms. Then it started spreading all over my stomach and chest. The red bumps turned into large welts and were very uncomfortable. I went to see my family doctor and she said I was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics I had been taking. She instructed me to stop taking it and gave me a different prescription.

I had no further problems at this point but my finger sure looked nasty for about a month. I could not use that finger ( right index ) for several months and had to go exercise it daily to regain flexibility. I had to write (sloppily) with my middle finger, which wasn't exactly easy, and I couldn't apply pressure to my index finger for about 3 or 4 months without severe pain.

My finger is now fully functional except that I have permanently lost some feeling on half of the tip and it looks a little bit more "narrow".

I am really thankful that I only got hit with one fang. Who knows how severe this would have been if it would have been a full blown bite? Seeing the severity of a bite from a small (16") snake, that is not as dangerous as most "hots" out there, really taught me to handle ( or not to handle when possible ) these snakes with respect and caution. I used this as a learning experience, not an embarrassment, and at home I am much more cautious than ever. Hopefully I will never have this "experience" again !

Member Comments: Add A Comment