Snakes

Leave snakes alone. Be careful when walking in tall grass, or other places you cannot see your feet. Never reach under or sit on top of rocks or logs without looking first. Snakes regulate their body temperature by lying in either shady or sunny spots. If it's hot, they're in the shade. If it's cold, they're usually not very active but could be sunning themselves on rocks.

How To Avoid Snakebites

Before venturing out into the wilderness, familiarize yourself with the snakes of your area, both venomous and non-venomous species.

• Learn which habitats the venomous species in your region are likely to be encountered in, and use caution when in those habitats.
• Always take a buddy into the field with you.
• Wear boots and loose-fitting pants if you are venturing into venomous snake territory.
• Try as much as possible not to take a snake by surprise. Stay on trails, and watch where you place your hands and feet, especially when climbing or stepping over fences, large rocks, and logs, or when collecting firewood.

How To Treat Snakebites

Venomous snakebites are rare, and they are rarely fatal to humans. Of the 8,000 snakebite victims in the United States each year, only about 10 to 15 die. However, for any snakebite the best course of action is to get medical care as soon as possible.

• Try to keep the snakebite victim still, as movement helps the venom spread through the body.
• Keep the injured body part motionless and just below heart level.
• Keep the victim warm, calm, and at rest, and transport him or her immediately to medical care. Do not allow him to eat or drink anything.
• If medical care is more than half an hour away, wrap a bandage a few inches above the bite, keeping it loose enough to enable blood flow (you should be able to fit a finger beneath it). Do not cut off blood flow with a tight tourniquet. Leave the bandage in place until reaching medical care.
• If you have a snakebite kit, wash the bite, and place the kit's suction device over the bite. (Do not suck the poison out with your mouth.) Do not remove the suction device until you reach a medical facility.
• Try to identify the snake so the proper antivenin can be administered, but do not waste time or endanger yourself trying to capture or kill it.
• If you are alone and on foot, start walking slowly toward help, exerting the injured area as little as possible. If you run or if the bite has delivered a large amount of venom, you may collapse, but a snakebite seldom results in death.