Posted by Tom Townsend on December 20, 1999 at 14:29:32:
In Reply to: African sand viper? posted by MsTT on December 20, 1999 at 00:06:18:
I have been wondering about this incident since it was reported here and elsewhere. I would think that being bitten in the back of the hand would be a particularly dangerous place to receive a bite, even from a small venomous snake, because of the close proximity of the veins to the skin. An intervenous bite would seem very likely to me, and if this woman had been bit as many times as alledged, perhaps she had become highly sensitized to the venom. I guess it all boils down to me feeling pretty terrible for her family and friends, as well as her animals. The snakes did nothing wrong (again), and were forced to pay with their lives (again), because a human made a mistake. I think an ppost-mortem would have been sufficient to establish a cause of death. As far as not having the resources to "deal" with the animals properly, I say *bullshit*...... there are plenty of people who would have paid good money to have had the opportunity to care for those snakes....