Snakes

The Oregonian carried an interesting, fact-filled article yesterday about the young child bitten by a rattlesnake in Monument, Oregon, with subsequent treatment and recovery. The creature above is just some random snake Steve spotted on one of his trips – any herpetologists out there able to identify it? – although I know he has some rattlesnake photos. Sadly I can’t post any of them right now, because he’s in Eugene this weekend and I didn’t know I’d be wanting one in my Images for the Blog file he sets up for me.

We spend several days each summer with the Western rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus) in the Alvord Desert. When we first started camping near Steens Mountain, Ali (our youngest child) was probably even younger than three, the age of the child bitten last week. I grew up on an island with only one poisonous snake, the adder, and I never saw one. So I was initially more than a little anxious about primitive camping in tents in rattlesnake country, far away from the nearest hospital and 22 miles from the nearest phone. The Crocodile Hunter TV shows helped enormously, in showing even more dangerous snakes can be handled by experts and safely co-exist with other humans. One show reviewed first aid for snake bites – basically, wash the bite with soap and water, keep the bitten part still and lower than the heart, and get to a hospital as soon as possible. Don’t use ice, and don’t wrap on a tight tourniquet. I felt better, knowing more.

Each year we visit, we notice more and more snakes. A few years ago, we camped right next to a rattlesnake hole, which we only noticed when the snake slithered out after we pitched our tents. I suggested moving, but others observed there are rattlesnake nests all over the area. That night, the snake circled our campsite over and over as we sat watching the stars. Correction: everyone else was watching the stars. I was watching the snake. After a while, I realized it had no more desire to mess with us than we with it. It kept its distance – the same distance I wanted to keep from it. We were extra-careful to use flashlights when walking away from the tent area, but I slept well that night, and I hope the snake did, too. We go back every year, to spend a couple of nights in the desert heat and dust away from the rest of humanity, with a billion stars all around…. and a few rattlesnakes.

Update 12 hours later: Here’s Steve’s photograph of one of our rattlesnake co-campers: