The Emporia Gazette

February 14, 2012

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A FEW DECADES ago, when the concept of emergency medical technicians was born, there had to be somewhere to start. Prior to about 1970, transportation to a medical facility with better equipment and facilities was very difficult.

When the EMT training was organized, many physicians in active family practice were recruited as teachers for the first few years. I had spent several years in the field of camping and outdoor recreation and was asked to teach, regionally, the training classes entitled “Poisons, Bites and Stings.” Bites included everything from ticks and chiggers to rattlesnakes.

I had never encountered any subject on which the general public was less informed, especially about snakes. In the next year or so, I heard some incredible stories. One of my favorites involved a man who showed me a small box of eggs with leathery shells, which he proudly proclaimed to be rattlesnake eggs. They presented no danger, he explained, because they had been heated in the oven long enough to kill the embryos. A good story, except for one oversight on somebody’s part. Rattlesnakes are not one of the snake species which lay eggs. Their young are born alive.

Snakes of any species are at a disadvantage because of the innate fear and misunderstanding by humans. I suppose this is traceable to the Garden of Eden in the Bible story. But most snakes are harmless toward humans and are far superior to cats as controllers of rats and mice. On our farm, we used both, and yes, I’ll admit, I’ve been startled a few times in the barn, having encountered a five foot blacksnake draped along a stall railing.

I’m sure I’ve heard every tall tale about snakes ever dreamed up. There’s a country girl who married a cowboy, only to lose him a few days later, by snakebite. That’s odd, considering that her first husband also died that way. Ultimately, it was discovered that the new husband had tried on his predecessor’s boots. The cause of death for both was snakebite, due to the unfortunate fact that the boots of husband No. 1 still held the fangs of the snake which had killed him, biting through the leather boot. Ridiculous, of course. The fangs are quite brittle and breakable and also could not retain any liquid such as snake venom more that a few hours. A heck of a story!

There are other wild tales; The hoop snake, for instance, who in an emergency takes his tail into his mouth, loops himself into a circle and roll faster than a galloping horse. Just WHY the snake would want to do that is never revealed, but there are intentionally ridiculous snake stories such as Alaska’s “snow snake,” especially dangerous because of their color: snow white! But, somebody is going to take such tall tales seriously, not realizing it’s a joke. Alaska has few snakes anyway, but many jokes.

Actually, there are only four poisonous species in the United States. Three are in the category of “pit vipers.” Not because they live in pits, but because of a small pit located between the eye and the nostril. Its function is uncertain, but may be connected with smell. Possibly, even some sense unknown to us mammals.

In our Midwest, we’re likely to contact only two poisonous species: rattlesnakes and copperheads. “Water moccasins,” also known as cotton-mouths, are extremely rare here. But I’ve seen innumerable harmless water snakes mislabeled. We just don’t have the moccasins in our area. Maybe in southern Missouri, possibly, but rare.

The coral snake, the fourth poisonous native, is a desert species, only found in the United States along the Mexican border. It is identified by its three colors: black, red and white or yellowish rings around the snake’s body. We have harmless Red King snakes with similar colors, but it’s simple to tell the difference by looking at the sequence of the colors.

“Red on yellow kills a fella; red on black, the poisons lack.”

This rule is, for all practical purposes, always reliable. But most of my personal snake experience in medical situations was with rattlesnakes. I came to some conclusion, after extended contact with other people involved, both in the EMT program and in personal physician care. There’s a lot of emotion involved, dating back to the Garden of Eden. Many times the best treatment turns out to be careful observation. To paraphrase: Don’t just do something! Stand there —”

See you down the road.

Author and columnist Don Coldsmith lives in Emporia.