Rattlesnake bite death of hiker in Golden extremely rare

The death of a man in Jefferson County Saturday from a rattlesnake bite defied odds believed to be as long as 1 in 50 million.

[jenniferdodd]

i survived a rattlesnake bite...I fought for my life for 10 days in ICU and nearly died. Be careful hiking or working in the bush! i was wearing sandles walking in tall and learn. respect the snakes...its their space

[hoibsh]

He prob died coz his heart was beating so fast from running and it quickly spread the venom.

[noremorse]

Some times people have an anaphylactic reaction to the venom which kills them within minutes of a bite.

[brendans]

I love how the Colorado news goes from a towering grow room to a story of a rattlesnake bite

[iDONTdoFacebook]

I’ve had 2 friends bitten by rattlers. Both were handling the wild snakes and got careless. One of them was an off-duty Tucson Arizona cop on a hike who did as he’d done many times before — he pinned the snake’s head down with a stick and then picked it up just behind the head. This time he left a little too much wiggle room for the snake (a Western Diamondback) which managed to twist its head around enough to get one fang in him. It obviously wasn’t a dry bite as the redness and swelling began creeping up his arm so he went to the hospital where they ultimately treated him with antivenin. He had a SEVERE allergic reaction to the equine proteins in the antivenin which was far worse than the effect of the snakebite. The antivenin nearly killed him and the doctors involved admitted in this particular case that he would have fared a lot better had they just let the snake venom run its course and not treated him with the antivenin.

[MarkSmith-jspu]

This was a freak event and lousy TV report, very shallow. Where was the victim, in the middle of no where? Hard to get to? If he had a fast heart rate in a race, that doesn’t help him. Did he get to a hospital? what kind of rattler was it. If it bleeds it leads and to heck with investigative journalism. I didn’t major in journalism but I know amateur news when I see it. It’s all here in Phoenix too. I’ve been in Phoenix for 30 years, many rattler bites, less than a handful of deaths. Sorry the man passed. RIP

[plasticmojo]

Schweet, There seems to be more questions than answers, How long after the bite did he die, did he try to seek medical help, what type of rattler was it and did he try to handle the snake, very unprofessional reporting it was more like snake bite kill all the

[BLUEGATORBOYZ]

Rip to the fella who lost his life & thank God the young snake handler speaks rattle snake to let us know exactly what the rattling means

[fringelilyfringelily]

In Australia, compression bandaging and a splint are recommended for our venomous snake bites.

[utujhgf]

1 in 50 million odds is highly misleading. It is the annual odds of dying from rattlesnake bite for Americans. Yet, the vast majority of Americans never enter rattlesnake habitat, so their odds are zero. The odds that matter are: 1) Odds of being bitten and of dying for people who hike in or enter rattlesnake habitat; 2) For people who are actual bitten, the odds of dying; 3) If bitten, the odds of dying if you do receive medical treatment. Yesterday, I encountered a large RS on a hike in Southern California. I did not see it and almost stepped on it. I would estimate I see 2-6 annually on hikes and likely come close to many more that I don't see. I want to know how common it is to be bitten in such situations, and for those that are bitten, the mortality rate. Of course, these meaningful odds are much more difficult to obtain.

[plembonicities]

I remember the story of a guy in Missouri (I think) was swimming in a river and got tagged by a large cottonmouth. He figured all was okay and went home and went to sleep....and never woke up. Moral of the story...regardless of how you feel afterwards, get to a hospital for treatment.

[ronrobertson]

I got bit in my yard in March 2022 by a rattlesnake but it was a dry bite. I live in south Alabama. I've ask how common a dry bite is no answer yet because this is the 2nd dry bite I got. I was bite while hog hunting in Myakka Florida in 1986.

[woodenseagull]

Squrrels are our problem in England,
especially when they hunt in packs, during the Autumn period.! Foxes and
Rabbits are scary too....Be careful if
You ever cross " the pond "...!

[joshgordon]

It's pretty easy to die from a venomous bite if you are in the back country on foot or a long way from town in rough country and cant make it to medical care fairly quickly.

[KYBlooograz]

Most rattlesnake bite victims require many rounds of antivenom (usually more than ten) and they are around $13, 000 a piece.🐍

[Reality_TV]

LOL! So if states aren't required to track snakebites, you don't know when the last one was and it could be more common than you think! There should be tracking for that.

[guckertott]

I was on a cattle drive in Texas. Along the way, we had to get the large herd to cross the Nueces River. All of us were fine to cross, but one newbie cowboy who didn't like to cross rivers. Said it always spooked him. Think he hailed from Ireland. Well there had been a huge storm the day before and it must've stirred up the cottonmouths because they were congregating in huge numbers. When this kid crossed the river, sure enough his horse sensed the snakes, got spooked and tossed him off to swim. He drifted right into a mass of about ten to twelve snakes and they went at him like a fat lady goes at a plate of wings. He received many bites all over his legs, body and face. He had so much poison pumped into him that even Keith Richards wouldn't have survived. It was sad. We dragged him out and he only lasted about five or seven minutes before dying right on that river bank with all of us huddled around the poor bastard. Worst part was having to tell his brother who was away chasing strays when it happened and was out an hour before returning to find he had no family left. Lotta heart ache on that particular cattle drive.

[gabe-poyi]

Is that it? No details about if the guy was allergic to the venom and went into anaphylactic shock, which is why most people die from a rattler bite. A guy who worked with snakes got bitten by a black mamba, went into anaphylactic shock immediately and was dead within a minute. Needless to say, he didn't know he was allergic to their venom.

[dfygoh]

1 in 50 million yes if you live in Minnesota but you don't get those odds if you live in Arizona or New Mexico

[chuckgates]

He picked the snake up and got bit twice. Leave the snakes alone.