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Snake-bite death reminds Marines of natural danger
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by tigers9 on November 2, 2008
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http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local/story/604306.html
Snake-bite death reminds Marines of natural dangers that lurk on Parris Island
Published Sat, Nov 1, 2008 12:00 AM
By PATRICK DONOHUE
pdonohue@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5531
Quick-tempered drill instructors aren't the only hazard recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island must negotiate to become Marines.
On an island populated by venomous snakes, insects, spiders and alligators, recruits, drill instructors, Marines and even visitors to the depot shouldbe mindful of the wildlife around them, said Ron Kinlaw, the depot's conservation law enforcement officer.
The military community in the Carolinas got a wake-up call in June about the dangers wildlife can pose during training operations when a 19-year-old Army Special Forces candidate was found dead near Fort Bragg, N.C., after being bit multiple times on the hand by a water moccasin, also known as a cottonmouth snake, during a land navigation exercise.
While Parris Island is free of water moccasins, Kinlaw said the depot has Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, the largest of the 32 species of rattlesnake.
The eastern diamondback, which can grow up to 6 feetlong,usually inhabits dry, sandy areas, pinewoods and coastal dune habitats, making Parris Island a prime habitat for the large pit viper.
"When we talk to recruits and talk to people that are going to be in the woods on Parris Island, we tell them to be very careful about where they walk, and to make sure they look down if you have to bend over to pick something up," he said.
Kinlaw said the depot recently inventoried the island's rattler population.
"As we look at the 'Grow the Force' initiative, which may bring increased personnel and recruits into wooded areas that we didn't use in the past, we felt it necessary to do that study and identify the snakes we have and any possible den sites," he said, referring to the Corps' push to have 202,000 active-duty Marines by 2012. "The study will allow us to tell if they're moving, where they're moving to and how best to deal with a problems should we start to see a high incidence of rattlesnake reports."
The group tagged nine Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes.
No one has ever been bitten by a venomous snake on Parris Island, Kinlaw said.
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RE: Snake-bite death reminds Marines of natural da
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by JoeCrotalid on November 2, 2008
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Maybe no one has ever been bitten on Parris Island, but I will tell you for a fact, it is not the first bite to occur on a military base. In fact one of the first bites I treated was a marine at Camp Lejeune bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake back in the late 80's. When marines are out in the field training as much as they are, it's just a matter of time before a bite occurs.
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RE: Snake-bite death reminds Marines of natural da
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by Cro on November 2, 2008
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One problem I see with this post, is that the Marines mention that they want to "identify the snakes we have and any possible "den" sites."
And they are talking about Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes.
While it is possible to sometimes find a huge old hollow log that might be a den for up to a dozen EDB's, or, perhaps a Gopher Tortiose Community that would serve as a winter denning area for many EDB's, or individual Hurricanes that are huge rotten stumps, that might house two or three EDB's, they are not a communal denning snake like Timber Rattlesnakes are.
Many EDB's overwinter by them selves, in solitary retreats.
I just hope that when they mentioned denning they way that they did, that they do not expect to go out and find rock cliff areas that house hundreds of these snakes during the winter.
Best Regards John Z
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