So I finally got my wife to go on a week long hiking/fishing/cabin

>>1082036

>stay calm
>elevate body part that was bit
>go get help
or if you think it will be faster to take the person afflicted with you, do that

tbqh you're far more likely to see and hear a rattlesnake before you're within striking distance. Try not to let it get to your head, it's the same thing as black bears, they are far more afraid of you than you are of them. They don't want to fight you. Just stay vigilant on your hike and make sure you get a good look around any rest spots / before you sit down. If you're really really worried, get a good radio and gps, and have the local ranger station's broadcasting frequency written and taped to the back of your radio.

Most people that are bitten by rattlesnakes do not die.
>It has been estimated that 7,000–8,000 people per year receive venomous bites in the United States, and about five of those people die.

Get some snake boots, protect your lower legs and you'll have much more peace of mind.

>>1082058
Its not only rattlesnakes but also cotton mouth and copper heads. Basically, the top 10 most dangerous snakes in the midwest call the national forest home. Ive read that timber rattlers have an interesting trait, in that they dont rattle or run when they sense you. They tend to say dead still and hope you think they are a stick.

The distance bothers me though. Im not leaving my wife in the forest after she was just bitten by one of the most deadly snakes in North America. Nor am I going to be able to carry her 10-20 miles to a ranger station in a time frame that ensures survival. I do know that slightly less than half snake bites are actually "dry" but I dont want to take that risk. I can not hike 15 miles in less than an hour. Nor can I hike 10 miles with a 130lbs person on my back in less than an hour. I know for a fact my wife cant drag me 196lb body 10 miles in less than an hour. Which leaves "tourniquet and hike"... that means 2 things. Either you lose the limb, or that the venom spreads even quicker with hearth rate. That is all just considering a rattlesnake and mentions nothing about the arguably deadlier cotton mouth and copper head.

Im still wondering why we couldnt have gone to Alaska, Canada, or Montana

>>1082083
>timber rattler
>one of the most deadly snakes in North America
Pick one. Because the timber rattler isn't even in the top 10, and there's only like 20ish poisonous species. Hell it's not even in the top 5 of US rattlesnakes.

>>1082115
Um... the timber rattler is the #2 most deadly in NA. The Cotton Mouth is #1. CopperHead is #5. I dont know what you are reading. The cotton mouth and copper head kill more people a year in NA than all rattlesnakes combined. I know I have better chances of being attacked by a bobcat... but I have a plan for a bobcat

>>1082072
This, boots will save your ass op, if you really really want to protect you're legs make a ducktape wrap/brace around your legs. That's gunna suck tho, you'll probably be fine with just a good pair of boots.

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>>1082036
I ate a goddamn rattlesnake one time
>we was drunk as fuck
>Run up on em on our 4wheelers.
>I was all "run over that sumbitch see what happens".
> He was all wigglin and shit.
>Motherfucker tried to bite me
>FUCKNOSNAKE.jpg
>Then I beat him in the head with my machete man
>bout to eat you with some mayonnaise you dumbass snake
God damn I love my job!

>>1082036
You know we have cell phone service out in the wilderness now, right?

call 911 and tell them your gf got bit by a snake and you're retarded. They'll come take care of it for you.

>>1082058
>elevate body part that was bit
yup, because there's nothing quite like helping the venom to circulate through your system to improve your prognosis. fuckin retard.

>>1082132
>timber rattler is #2
How the fuck? It's not even in the top 3 RATTLERS.
-far less common than either diamondbacks
-far less potent venom than the Mojave (most toxic rattler) and both Diamondbacks (tied for second-most toxic, differing only in size)
-far less venom injected on average per bite than the Massasauga, Eastern diamondback, or Western diamondback

The timber rattler accounts for several thousand bites every year, yet hasn't killed a person in the US since 2009. It's got fairly weak venom and there is an effective antivenin for it. Moreover the venom in general is not something that tends to kill, due to it being a cytotoxic venom instead of neurotoxic. Even left COMPLETELY untreated (as in literally not even a bandaid or ice) it's survivable assuming you didn't get bitten in the face/neck/junk.

>>1082036

5 decades? better bring your walking stick along in the stroller.

>>1082036
Where do you live and why did she pick there?
I live just 30 min outside of it, have hiked there and have friends who use their trails for running.
Never have I seen a poisonous snake there, people always act like we're infested but I've only seen 2 rattlesnakes in my life.

What cabins by the way?
Asking because some have notorious bed bug problems, make sure to read reviews.
If you're going there it would be better to go closer to red river gorge.

>>1082254
Will add I've never seen a cotton mouth but copper heads are kind of common, they are pussies though and don't go near humans and flee pretty quickly.

>>1082145
BBQ Rattlesnake is great. Better than chicken.

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>>1082036
Learn how to do a snakebite wrap over the limb, leave the person with water, shelter, tell them not to move and get your arse to the nearest help. 15miles in remote, shit country you can probably do it in 4-6 hours.

>>1082072
Yep, these things are literally lifesavers in cranky snek season here

Apply an even pressure bandage at the top of the limb that is bitten and wrap downward to the bite. Other than that stay comfortable and rest in the shade.
I think I would be torn between making up some kind of pallet to drag the bite victim on, or running back to the ranger station with naught but a drink bottle and a snack.
Would probs hedge my bets and drag as far as I could, then if it wasn't doable, run for help.
Don't ever tourniquet.

>>1082174
Actually you DO want the venom to circulate.

Rattlesnake bites are almost never fatal, same with cottonmouth and copperhead. Unless you have a systemic anaphylactic reaction, which again is rare.

Do not use a tourniquet. The venom will still spread throughout your body, but more will stay in the affected limb, causing severe necrosis, and will kill the limb.

You want that venom distributed throughout the body as it then reduces the effects locally. I've been a paramedic for 13 years, and recently just did some training on snake bites, the newest reccomendations indicate tourniquiets make your outcome much worse.

Cottonmouth bites only cause local effects anyways. Rattlesnake bites cause systemic reactions, but they are rarely fatal.

If you are bit, get help. The only thing that really helps is antivenom. Much of the national forest has cell service anyways, it's spotty though.

How many people visited the shawnee national forest last year? Maybe a million? Only 1 of them died, and she fell off a cliff or some shit.

Snakes are hardly a concern.

>>1082349
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3550186/

Some reading to support my statements.

Fucking lol. Shawnee is a great nf. Youre a pussy.
I dunno what it is about /out/ and believing the internet more than your own experience.

>>1082349
>>1082352
not helping circulation=/=impeding circulation.

from your journal article:
>maintain the bitten extremity in a neutral position with regard to the heart.

>>1082511
Because a neutral position will help blood flow and circulate the venom.

>>1082626
allowing the blood to flow=/=helping the blood to flow. you don't elevate the bite, you leave it neutral, i.e. below the heart.

>>1082254
We live about 40 minutes north of Chicago. Grayslake exactly. Ive spent my childhood at Starved Rock and Matthiessen. When I got older we went to MN for the fishing. A bit older and we spent a ton of time on Kodiak Island in AK. Ive hunted most of the northern west in the US and lower west of Canada. We are in the Walnut Grove cabins and plan to take a 10 mile one way trip west day 2 and a 15-18 mile hike east day 3

Guess Im just sort of freaked out by Snakes. I really dont like them.

>>1082632
I have no idea what you're trying to argue. I never once suggested you "help the blood flow". I said you want the venom to circulate, which is exactly what the body does on its own without a tourniquiet. I never said to elevate an limb or anything.

>>1082851
maybe you should read posts before you respond to them, because i was specifically replying to someone who said to elevate the bite, then you're the one who brought up tourniquets for no reason. which, btw, if you were actually a medic for 13 years you would know that tourniquets haven't been the treatment for snakebites for over a decade, and have nothing to do with the pressure dressings mentioned in the article you linked.

>>1082058
Of those 7,000-8,000- most will have permanent disfigurements, from loss of muscle tissue to loss of entire fingers/toes/hands.

I have rattlers, cottonmouths and copperhead everywhere here (got 2 yesterday alone)- but even though they're so abundant its very, very rare for anyone to get bit.

Just watch where you put your foot down. Getting close to a snake isn't the dangerous part. They don't want to waste venom on something they can't eat. You can brush up against them and they would more than likely dart away. But they will strike if 150 pounds is slammed down on top of them.

>>1082072
This.
Also just mind your step and listen.
Snakes are not monsters. They don't slither around trying to find you. Alot of them will slither away before you ever notice them. If you startle them they will let you know. And they will strike as a last resort.

>>1082896
Maybe you're the one who needs to read posts. I brought up tourniquets because OP said

>>1082036
> Some say use a tourniquet

>>1082171
>You know we have cell phone service out in the wilderness now, right?
I've been to many places in the lower 48 USA that still don't have cell service.
Mostly mountains that fuck it up, though, and not many snakes there.

>>1082171
Don't know what kind of urbanite faggot you are, but I don't have cell service at my house.

>>1082036
>more afraid of you than you are of them. They don't want to fight you.
This.
Even if I dies from a snakebite, it is kill before me.
Also, 90% of all snakebites are below the ankle or on the hands.
So snake-proof boots and watch where you put your hands.

>>1082349
>Only 1 of them died, and she fell off a cliff or some shit
10 to 1 odds she was taking a selfie over the cliff.
I laugh my ass off at every tourist who has never been in the outdoors once, and gets gored by a bison at Yellowstone trying to take a selfie with it.

>>1084517
Same here, but I use a Verizon network extender to give me service.

>>1084690
Neighbors have a landline if I really want to get in touch with someone (I don't). I guess I could get some stupid skype thing ut I don't care enough to. It's nice being cut off.

>>1084690
>>1084823
In "town" I have 1x service, or nothing.
In my cabin, buried in the woods- I have 4gLTE. On the backside of my property my reception drops to nothing.
I swear the metal roof on my cabin is a parabolic antennae or something.

>>1085449
My metal roof doesn't do shit because I live in a valley that's 250 yards wide

>>1084517
>I don't have cell service at my house.
that's cool, but it doesn't change the fact that almost all of the western us wilderness has cell coverage.

>>1082285
far far better

>>1086351
here's hopin for a buzzworm in yer boot

>>1082511
>>1082632
you being a faggot=/=you not having autism

>>1082036
So glad I live in a place that hits -30 in the winter so I don't have to deal with that poisonous shit.