- If you have a mobile phone and have service, call emergency services to report your location.
- Tie a bandage a few fingers' width above the bite to slow distribution of venom. The bandage should not cut off circulation; a good rule of thumb is that you should be able to easily slide a finger beneath the bandage.
- If help is on the way, keep the victim still, positioning the limb that was bitten below the level of the heart. If you must move, do so slowly and try to stay relaxed; a rapid heart pulse rate will only spread the poison faster.
- Monitor the victim's vital signs - temperature, pulse, rate of breathing, blood pressure. If there are signs of shock, lay the victim flat, raise the feet, and cover the victim with a blanket.
- When help has arrived or you have reached a hospital, describe the snake to the paramedic so that the correct anti venom serum can be administered.
- DO NOT try to ‘suck out' the venom. This does not work and is more likely to poison you than help the victim.
- DO NOT put ice on the wound.
- DO NOT give the victim alcoholic drinks.
Before a strike, a snake will usually display a few warning signs. These include:
- Baring Fangs - Opening the mouth wide to display teeth.
- Making a Warning Noise - Hissing, spitting, rattling, shaking vegetation.
- Getting Into Strike Position - This is the classic S shape. Most snakes will make a few false strikes with their mouths closed before striking prey.
Common Venomous Snakes
Rattlesnake
Medium sized snakes, about 2 to 5 feet long that are found around the world in grasslands, deserts, woodlands, and canyons. Colors vary, but all rattlesnakes have oval, square, or diamond shaped markings on their backs, and all have a rattle.
Habitat: Worldwide
Copperhead
Small snakes, about 22 to 36 inches long, with red hourglass shaped bands across their backs. They can appear pinkish in tint, with a rust colored triangular head and elliptical pupils. They love living in brush or wood piles.
Habitat: Worldwide, particularly wooded areas of North America and Australia.
Egyptian Cobra
Large snakes up to 18 feet long, with yellow, dark brown, or black uniform bodies and brown crossbands. Their heads are sometimes black, once aroused or threatened, they will attack and continue attacking until they feel they can escape.
Habitat: Africa, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia
Cottonmouth
Small snakes, about 20 to 48 inches long, generally dark brown, olive green or almost solid black in color. They have dark bands around their bodies. The name "Cottonmouth" comes from the whitish interior of their mouths, which they display when threatened.
Habitat: Southeastern half of the United States in wooded wetlands, swamps, marshes, rivers, ponds and streams.
Coral Snake
Slender snakes, about 30 inches long, with a small head and round pupils. Their distinctive pattern is a broad black ring. A narrow yellow ring, and a broad red ring, with the red rings always bordered by the yellow rings.
Habitat: There are about 30 species found throughout the world; they are barely seen because of their tendency to burrow underground.
