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by Mark_OShea on April 16, 2006
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Hi Catly,
I mailed your photo to Wolfgang Wuster, who is the person who sorted out the systematics of the Bothrops complex a while ago. He agreed with me that it looked like B.atrox, but he pulled me up for suggesting B.asper comes anywhere near the Orinoco delta. Apparently that is an error that many experienced herpetologists make thinking the large Bothrops in northeastern Venezuela and Trinidad is B.asper, when it is genetically closest or identical (not sure which) to B.atrox. I looked in Campbell & Lamar and they show B.asper here too, so if they can make that mistake I think I can be excused too (see my review of that excellent publication elsewhere on this site). I certainly looks like you saved your beau from the common lancehead which, despite is unassuming name, is the species of snake responsible for most serious and fatal snakebites in S.America.
I hope he bought you some flowers, or chocolates or something else as a thankyou!
Best, Mark
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RE: Mark O'Shea Answers Questions
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by Mark_OShea on April 16, 2006
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Dear catch22
I was extremely distressed to hear about this snakebite, to a 6 year old girl, I do know what she went through having received a triple bite to both hands in Transvaal during filming of Black Mamba in 1997 (I think it was).
In the dark of the road we mistook the snake for a wolfsnake (a foolish mistake) and I was bitten on my right hand once and left hand twice before I could react, as the snake rolled over my hands. The right hand bite was the least severe, the final left hand bite, to the back of the hand, the worst, but all three were very painful and my hands swelled considerably during the hour drive to the northern Transvaal bush hospital. I have been criticised for taking my discharge from hospital and not following the doctors advice and treatment. At the time I could hardly say on camera that the Cuban doctor (a land without any front-fanged venomous snakes) wanted to use cryotherapy on both hands to reduce the swelling and insisted he has seen two bites, the one with cryotherapy retaining fingers, the one without, loosing them. In view of the potential necrotic effects of the venom I and Donald Strydom, a noted S.African snake expert, argued he had his cases mixed up and cryotherapy could lead to loss of tissue, but he would not have it, it was accept his treatment of get treated somewhere else. We negotiated to have a painkiller shot (it was severe) and a perscription for antibiotics and we left.
I received three bites and this little girl only received the one but sure enough it will have been exceedingly painful. I hope she was given some pain relief even though, of course, there is no antivenom for this bite. It is a comfort to know that although 3 of th 16 Atractaspis have caused deaths, the S.African Bibron's stiletto snake is not amongst their number, but something should be done to avoid the necrosis of the wound. I wonder, you did not mention, was cryotherapy used as treatment ?
There are good snakebite doctors in Natal and one of the best I can recommend is Dr Paul Rollinson at Empangeni Hospital. He probably sees more KawZulu-Natal snakebites, certaining treating more mFezi bites, (that is Mozambiaque spitter Naja mossambica to everyone outside Zululand) than anyone else and since these snakes are highly cytotoxic he is well versed in treating necrotic snakebites.
Finally, S.African antivenom is not available for treating stilettos because no horses have been immunised against its venom. The reason is that in a land with so many potentially fatal species, the stiletto is just too far down the list and not yet proven to cause a fatality. Its venom is unusual, it contains sarafotoxins which cause coronary artery vasconstriction which means they narrow the blood vessels to a degree that may lead to a heart attack, so in truth the possibility is there.
I agree that many rangers are not versed in snake identification nor safe capture, though I have met many excellent snakemen in S.Africa. If you move into an area it is worth obtaining the phone number of the local expert who will likely come out and remove offending serpents from you house and released them away from the property, which is best for all concerned. Non-experts attempting this risk bites, venom in the eyes and ultimately fail or kill the snake.
I hope this information helps. though it is of no use in saving this little girl's finger-tip so long after the bite.
Kindest regards
Mark O'Shea
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by popespitviper on April 25, 2006
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hi mark my names daniel i work in londen zoo reptile house,i just wonderd how you got where you are today , when and where you first started working with reptiles
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by Mark_OShea on April 27, 2006
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Hi Daniel
I check in with www.venomousreptiles.org when I have a few moments spare and at the moment I am waiting for a call back from my editor regarding Boas and Pythons of the World, which is due out in 2007, so it seems like a good time to answer your question.
So a quick potted history, if such a thing is possible.
I met my first captive snake, a boa constrictor at Dublin Zoo, in 1966 and my first wild snake, an adder, the following year I think.
I kept snakes from the age of 8 or 9.
I built up quite a large collection through the 1970s and spent a lot of time looking at British herps in the wild, esp. in Dorset.
Pete Stafford (now BMNH) and I organised a couple of herping trips to the US in the early 1980s.
I also studied for a degree and came away with a BSc with honours in 1985.
In 1983 I took a sabbatical from my studies and organised an expedition into the heart of Borneo, and came into contact with professional expeditioners who were planning Operation Raleigh. We returned to the UK in 1984.
In 1985 I was invited to join the Scientific Directing Staff of Operation Raleigh. I ran a 3 month herp project in Honduras in 1985 and then PNG in 1986. In 1986 I also started working with television companies on blue chip natural history films and was invited to join the staff of West Midland Safari Park as Curator of the new reptile house.
In 1997 the Director of the Royal Geographical Society, Dr John Hemming, invited me to spend 7 months in northern Amazonian Brazil as herpetologist on the 1987-88 Anglo-Brazilian Maraca Rainforest Project.
In 1989 I spent 4 months in Cameroon for Operation Raleigh.
In 1990 Prof David Warrell asked me to go to PNG for 5.5 months as the herpetologist on the Oxford Uni., Liverpool School of Trop. Med., UPNG snakebite project. I also spent some weeks in PNG working on the BBC Natural World "New Guinea: An Island Apart".
In 1991 and 1992 I made two expeditions to Nepal for Raleigh Executive with Col. John Blashford-Snell, as Biological Director.
In 1992 I was back in PNG on venomous snake research and returned in 1993.
In 1993 I went to Guyana with Discovery Expeditions, again with JBS, again as Biological Director.
In late 1993 and early 1994 I was back in PNG on venomous snake research.
In 1995 I was going back to Borneo but dropped out when my father passed away. Around this time I stopped keeping reptiles at home, either moving my remaining specimens to WMSP or parting with them to friends.
In 1996 I was in Venezuela filming "Giant Snake".
I also went to PNG to launch "A Guide the Snakes of Papua New Guinea" and spent time in Sri Lanka working on Discovery's "Cobra, King of Snakes".
In 1997 I was in S.Africa filming "Black Mamba".
In 1999 we filmed the 1st series of OBA in Brazil, Argentina, USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Trinidad, Cuba, back in Brazil and finally Guyana.
In 2000-2001 we filmed the 2nd series of OBA in Australia, PNG, New Caledonia, Guam & Saipan, back in Australia (Ashmore Reef), then Tasmania, Philippines and Indonesia.
In 2000 I returned from Australia to receive the "Millennium Award for Services to Exploration (Zoology)", one of only nine awards, from the British chapter of the Explorers' Club of New York. Other recipents included Buzz Aldrin, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Sir Chris Bonnington.
Around this time I became Consultant Curator of Reptiles at WMSP.
In 2001 I received a DSc (Doctor of Sciences) degree by Wolverhampton University for my contributions to herpetology (fieldwork and written rather than television).
Also in 2001 the co-authored "Handbook to Reptiles and Amphibians" (DK) was published.
In 2002 we filmed the 3rd series in India, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
In 2003 we filmed the 4th series in Mauritania & Senegal, S.Africa, Zambia & Tanzania, and Peru. You can find out more about these films at www.markoshea.tv although Series 4 is not online at present.
In 2005 "Venomous Snakes of the World" (New Holland/Princeton Univ.Press) was published.
I have also managed to attend every World Congress of Herpetology: Canterbury, UK 1989; Adelaide, S.Australia 1992; Prague, Czech Rep. 1997; Bentota, Sri Lanka 2002; Stellenbosch, S.Africa 2005 and have presented papers at other symposia in Sri Lanka, Brazil and Sweden as well as the UK and written many articles, papers, notes and contributions to mult-authored volumes.
I hope that answers your question.
Simply jotting it all down certainly brought back some great memories, I simply must write that autobiography some day.
Mark
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by spidersnake on April 28, 2006
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Mark, I have watched your TV shows in the past and enjoyed them. And I intend on becoming a herpetologist when Get out of college. I am 16 and live in Rush Springs Oklahoma. I am a sophomore and i am starting to have to decide what college i would like to go to. Could you recommend any particular college that has a good program for that. Also what courses could I take? Biology of course, and Zoology, but is there any thing else i should do?.What kind of degree should i get?
I would appreciate your answers.
Sincerely
James Woodman
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by Mark_OShea on May 1, 2006
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Spidersnake
The problem here is I am born, raised and educated in the UK and have little knowledge of the US educational system. We don't have sophomores here (to my knowledge) and most of us only learned about frats from watching Animal House.
What I do know is that many of the US universities have top-flight herpetologists on their staff so you need to look around and decide what aspect of herps most interests you and which geographical region appeals as many universities have on-going research projects around the world.
I would suggest a well-rounded zoology or biology degree and specialise in herps later or tailor your more general degree around herps, because they do not live in isolation. Amphibians and reptiles live in botanical habitats, and prey upon, are preyed upon, and are parasitized by, other organisms, so you really need to understand the big picture first. On other words, don't get tunnel-vision and only show interest in herps.
My suggestion is visit some of the university websites or if a particular US herper works on something that interests you, or writes in a way you enjoy, then find out where they are based.
In the US you have better opportunities for herp studies under highly qualified herpetologists than anywhere else in the world, but then, you are also up against greater competition with more students like yourself also chasing the same places. This means you have to make good grades. I hope that helps, it is probably as good advice on education in the US that a 'limey' can give.
Mark
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by SimplySnakes on May 2, 2006
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Mark,
Have you ever thought of writing a book about all of your experiences in the field? I would think it would be a best seller. Also, do you think you will have another show on television in the future? I really miss that!
Sincerely,
Paul Moody
Simply Snakes
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by MikeB on May 4, 2006
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For Spidersnake from Rush Springs, as I am also in Oklahoma, I can tell you that both OU and OSU have pretty strong biology/zoology departments, and I think there is at least one faculty member at each who is a specialist in herpetology. In general, one gets the bachelor's degree in general zooology or biology and then specializes in a particular field for the master's and, if desired, doctoral, degrees.
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by Mark_OShea on May 7, 2006
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Hi Paul
I have been asked several times to write my autobiography and I do intend to do it, it is just finding the time. I don't want a ghost writer, that is so fake, it has to be all my own work. So what I have been doing is writing up individual stories and episodes over the years, some for herp magazines, others for websites, Russ Gurley has asked for one or two for a book he is compiling, so that some day I can pull them all together into one volume, link them together and add some more. I put some of them on the Reptiles magazine site at www.animalnetwork.com/reptiles/home.aspx
As for more films, well not at the present. I enjoyed making OBA but I really wanted to reflect genuine fieldwork with all its successes and failures and today, the demand for more sensational footage and the cutting of budgets, time and money, it becomes increasingly more difficult. I was also prepared to fail in one or two of my quests if I did not find the species I was searching for, but I don't think that sits well with the broadcasters, they really do expect success every time. But life isn't like that, success and failure are two sides of the same coin, and to truly appreciate one you have to taste the other.
Anyway, I am getting back into fieldwork again, there is nothing I enjoy more than working steadily on a research project in the tropics. However, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy making documentaries too and would make more if asked to, but that is not the be-all and end-all of my herpetological existance.
Kindest regards
Mark
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