[NMCycling] Stupid Question

[Heidi Snell via Bike-racers]

Hey Ben:

Yours is not a stupid question.  It is not 
unusual to see all sorts of snakes, especially 
out of densely inhabited areas....like most of NM.

Short reply. Antivenin in the wrong hands is 
about as bad as a snakebite, i.e. severe allergic reaction on top of the bite.
Antivenin is VERY expensive and does not even 
work on all venomous snakes here in the US, plus 
it expires.  I would not recommend trying to carry it.

There are many variables on a bite, where on the 
body, how much venom, what snake, when, body size 
of the person, size of the snake.  (but even 
newly hatched rattlesnakes have venom!)

Best bet is kill the snake and carefully take it 
with you for proper species ID.
Then get to a hospital that knows what to do for snake bites.
There are still a lot of bites MIS-treated!

FYI there is a lot of information (and 
mis-information) on the Internet - no surprise there right?

If you are really concerned about what to do, 
take a good first aid class, or talk with a 
knowledgeable physician or a reasonable 
rattlesnake specialist, NOT a gonzo snake fanatic. :-D

Bites can happen, so it is best to learn what to do if it happens.

best,
heidi
At 01:17 PM 8/25/2014, Benjamin George via Bike-racers wrote:
>Do people ride MTB's with anti-venum? Â
>
>Thanks,
>Ben
>
>--
>~Benjamin J. George
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/bike-racers/attachments/20140826/f8e52f01/attachment.html>