oh you've just been bitten by a snake so
what do you do now
snakes why'd it have to be snakes there
are about 3,000 different species of
snakes in the world
both venomous and non-venomous while
they can be deadly most snakes are only
likely to bite you in self-defense frank
burbrink studies snakes at the American
Museum of Natural History the most
venomous snake in the world is the
inland Taipan from Australia but it
doesn't really envenomate that many
people so many people don't actually die
from this animal some other snakes are
less venomous but more likely to lash
out at you like the Russell's Vipers in
India then if you're in the United
States yeah the Mojave rattlesnake is
pretty pretty rough in terms of venom
and Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
about 7,000 8,000 people are bitten each
year by venomous snakes in the United
States but only about five of those
actually died as a result so as long as
you know what to do and how to treat a
bite you have a good shot at surviving
the first thing you want to do when
bitten is trying not to freak out when
you're bit by something this venomous
trust me you know it right from the
start the most important thing you can
do is stay calm keep that venom from
spreading faster coyote Peterson hosts a
wildlife show on YouTube in which he
shows what it's like to be bitten and
stung by various creatures so he knows a
thing or two about snake bites so let's
say you're bitten by snake and you're on
Mill does you think oh no I've been
bitten I need to run as fast as I can to
get help worst thing you can do because
that's only gonna make your heart pump
faster that's going to spread that venom
further you want to kind of keep the arm
elevated keep yourself calm
well you shouldn't run you still want to
try to get medical attention as soon as
possible and don't wait until the
symptoms appear there are many instances
of people that don't go to doctors for
days and they they suffer you know
either death or a severe tissue damage
can lose hands fingers aside from the
pain there are a number of different
ways your body might react there will
likely be redness and swelling around
the wound
you may feel nauseous and
might become more difficult to breathe
your limbs might go numb your vision may
blur and you may start salivating and
sweating there are two main types of
venom and snakes that affect you
differently the first is called
hemotoxic venom and it's found in Vipers
the ones from by periods which are
hemotoxins which destroy tissue and are
incredibly painful the second type is
called neurotoxic and it can be found in
cobras and coral snakes
so the neurotoxic paralyzes muscles and
then eventually causes you to stop
breathing
okay and that's a much less painful a
common misconception when it comes to
snake bites is that you should suck the
venom out you'll make an incision and
you suck out the poison it's based on a
complete misunderstanding of how venom
is injected in your system I mean if you
took a shot of any chemical opioids or
anything else once it's in your body
there's no way to pull that out with
human suction and sucking can also make
things worse if you have any sort of a
sore in your mouth it could be canker
sore it could be a little you know cut
on your tooth from flossing that is how
the venom gets into your blood system so
actually putting that venom in your
mouth can be really really bad you don't
want to try to catch the snake but you
should try to remember what it looks
like so you can get the correct
treatment or anti-venom but if you know
your envenomated because what you've
been bitten and really starts hurting
like putting the white-hot needles into
your skin or your muscles if you feel
that sensation and you know you've been
envenomated but you're not sure by what
and the snake is still there everybody
carries a cell phone take a photo of it
if you can't make it to help right away
wash the bike with soap and water but
don't apply ice or submerse it in water
you can cover it with a clean bandage
until help arrives
but don't apply a tourniquet some people
do stuff where they try to put
tourniquets on there if you don't know
what you're doing with that you can
cause a lot of damage and it's probably
better to leave that alone if you had a
medical expert right people often do
would tie them too tight and cut off
circulation and then you're in trapping
venom into certain parts your body I
just it's not good idea right even if a
venomous snake bites you there's a
chance it's just a dry bite meaning no
venom was injected into your system so
what if the snake is non-venomous I've
been bitten by many non-venomous snake
species and most snakes have an
anticoagulant in their saliva in that
anticoagulant basically sort of causes
you to bleed more than necessary but as
long as it's not venomous all you need
to do is wash out that bite with soap
and water you should be just fine the
best advice is to keep your distance and
avoid being bitten altogether always
admire snakes from safe distance it's
better to be safe than sorry when it
comes to getting up close with these
reptiles there are really gentle animals
they don't want you to mess with them
they're fearful of you if you see them
don't mess with them just appreciate
their colors they're not going to come
and attack you unless you corner them or
do something to harm them heed this
advice and you won't be his
[Music]