MY regular correspondent, Concerned Naturalist of Pumula, has had another snake incident. This time she encountered a common or rhombic night adder having a nap in the sun in the middle of her lawn. She rushed inside and fetched their home-made snake-catching device and nabbed the snake on her first attempt. Despite a very angry adder and some logistical difficulties, she managed to deposit her catch in a safe haven far from her home. Thank you, Concerned Naturalist, for your email and for doing the right thing with your adder.
Now, the night adder is not particularly venomous, a bite will be painful, but rarely more than that. But what happens if you are bitten by a really venomous snake?
Well, we’ll get round to that, but firstly it’s important to know that there are just four really deadly snakes down here, meaning that a bite could be fatal. They are the black and green mamba, the puff adder and the boomslang. Perhaps the most important thing if you should be bitten by a snake is to try to identify it, this makes a huge difference once you get to hospital. If you can, kill it and take it with you, if not, well, it shouldn’t be too difficult to tell the difference between the four baddies (although the green mamba and the boomslang are both arboreal and somewhat similar in appearance).
The most important thing is to get professional, medical help as soon as possible, and that would mean your nearest hospital. But what to do in the meantime? Firstly, don’t panic. Rushing around is the last thing you want to do, so, get a grip and do what you have to do. Do NOT apply a tourniquet, assuming that the bite is on a limb. Tourniquets are bad news. Do NOT cut the bite or suck it, this is also bad news. What you need to do is loosen all tight clothing, get the victim into the shade if possible (in other words try to keep them cool), and apply a cloth or bandage (anything will do in an emergency) to the wound. If the victim loses consciousness do the following: keep the airways open, so, get the victim’s head back (one should do this anyway), if the breathing stops apply CPR (if you have been trained in this), and keep a check on the pulse.
Those are the fundamentals, but perhaps the first rule is the most important, don’t panic. Get hold of the nearest hospital and let them know that you are bringing in a snake bite victim and if possible the identity of the snake. It’s important to note that bites by snakes are rare, by venomous snakes even more so, so don’t see every snake, or in fact any snake, as the enemy.
To end on a high note, ‘Da spring has sprung, da grass has riz, I wonder where dem boidies is?’ with apologies to Anonymous. (Seriously, spring is in the air). Cheers!
