Snake Safety

Anyone who ventures into the outdoors needs to know the rules of survival in snake country. Venomous snakes are found in all but a few isolated places in North America, and chances are good that if you wander around the backcountry long enough, you'll encounter venomous snakes.

The good news is that rattlesnakes are not out to get you. You don't need to worry about a snake hunting you down. In fact, the opposite is true … generally, snakes try to avoid people unless molested, cornered or otherwise threatened. However, there are occasional accidents where man and snake encounter each other with unfortunate results. 

Rattlesnakes have a hard time with public relations. Their very appearance has a lot to do with this. A flickering forked tongue, intense yellow eyes with vertical slit pupils, a triangle-shaped head, pits on the face, fangs, raspy skin and rattles do nothing to endear these snakes to people … even those people who otherwise enjoy the company of animals. The whole package looks wicked, making rattlers fairly despised members of the wild kingdom. 

Actually, rattlesnakes are fascinating. The flickering tongue is a tool used to locate and identify food in the dark. Particles of scent are caught by the tongue, which is then drawn into the mouth and stuck into holes in the roof of the mouth where scent glands are located. Another mechanism employed by the snake for locating prey (or a possible enemy) are the heat-sensing pockets on the face, which tell the snake about the size, distance and direction to a heat-producing source such as an animal or man. These pockets are what give the pit viper its name. If you encounter a rattlesnake and it flicks its tongue in and out of its mouth while swinging its head back and forth in your direction, it is using both scent and heat-sensing mechanisms in an effort to identify you and determine the distance between itself and you. 

If you come across a rattlesnake, rule number one is to keep your distance and warn others in the group about the snake's presence. A rattlesnake does not have to coil before striking. It can strike from any position. The snake cannot "jump" or strike a greater distance than the length of its own body (unless it is striking downhill). But it is pure foolishness to underestimate the rattler's strike zone. The decision to strike or not to strike belongs to the snake, and one can never predict what that decision will be. 

When a snake sheds its skin (one to several times per year, depending upon food supply and rate of growth), the eyes temporarily glaze over, reducing the snake's vision, which is none too sharp anyway. During this period, the snake is especially nervous and more likely to strike. 

If the snake strikes, it determines how much (if any) venom to inject. Snakebite doesn't always involve injection of venom, for a couple of reasons. 

• Perhaps the snake recently caught and killed some prey, and is low on venom. 
• Perhaps the snake's venom glands don't produce very much. 
• Perhaps the snake decides to reserve its venom supply for food and is striking only as a warning. 

Whatever the reason, you can't know in advance if a strike will occur, and if it does, you can't know in advance how much venom will be injected. 

While death by snakebite in the U.S. is fairly rare, the injury caused by snake venom can be devastating. You rarely hear about victims of snakebite who don't die. But those who are bitten, injected with venom, and manage to survive frequently suffer loss of a limb. Rattlesnake venom attacks the circulatory system and digests the flesh surrounding the wound. The result may be a severely deformed limb, or amputation. Even a bite by a so-called “harmless” snake can lead to dangerous infection or allergic reaction. 

According to the University of Florida, there are about 7,000 reported venomous snakebites in the United States each year. The University of Maryland Medical Center has the number pegged at roughly 8,000. Fatalities average 15 per year. The numbers indicate that people are not paying enough attention to what’s going on around them when they’re in snake country. Either that or they’re acting irresponsibly, a conclusion that's easy to reach, given that approximately 3,000 of the bites are classed as “illegitimate,” indicating that they occur when people are handling or harassing snakes, either trying to pick them up or kill them. 

University of Florida statistics say that 85% of venomous snakebites are below the knee, indicating that stepping on a snake is probably a common cause. Other bites occur when the person steps over a log or beside a boulder where a snake is hiding. Deep grass and brushy country are also prime snake habitats that contribute to the snakebite statistics. Bites above the knee happen when the victim is trying to handle or kill a snake, or they are bitten when picking up logs or rocks or placing hands in dangerous spots while climbing or scrambling along a slope. 

There are seasons when people are more likely to encounter venomous snakes — generally between late spring and early fall (March and October in most of the country). This varies with geography and local climate, so you should determine prime snake season for your own region. That doesn’t mean you can ignore the danger other than during that season, but it means that you should be especially vigilant when snakes are in season. 

A snake safety plan should include the following: 

• If you come across a snake, point it out to others in your group and then give it wide berth and leave it alone. 
• If you know that you will be camping and hiking in snake country during snake season, wear high leather boots or snake gaiters and remain on clearly visible trails as much as possible. 
• Stay out of tall grass and dense brush. 
• Be careful where you place feet and hands, especially when climbing on rocks, around ledges or logs. 
• Carry a long stick so you can probe the area ahead as you travel. But don’t use the stick to tease the snake or try to kill it. 

The types of snakes of greatest concern in the United States include rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouth water moccasins, and coral snakes. Each has its own kind of venom — some are hemotoxins that attack the circulatory system and everything it leads to, and some are neurotoxins that attack the central nervous system and everything connected to it. Either way, a bite can be extremely serious, even if death is not the result. 

The medical industry has developed antivenin to help counter the effects of the different types of venom, but knowing which type of snake inflicted the bite is critical to selecting the correct antivenin. Bring the dead remains of the snake to the hospital or give it to the medical response team that comes to your aid. But don’t get yourself bitten again or cause someone else to be injured trying to capture or kill the snake. After the snake is killed, remove the head and bury it or cremate it in a fire, because the fangs can still inflict a bite even if the snake is dead. 

The current doctrine regarding field first aid treatment of snakebite is: 

• Calm the victim and have him relax as much as possible, to slow the transport of venom through the body. 
• Immediately call for medical assistance. Time is of the essence. 
• While waiting for help to arrive, remove rings, watches or anything else that may restrict circulation when the affected limb swells. 
• Wash the wound with soap and water. Don’t worry about becoming poisoned yourself while treating someone else, because the toxin doesn’t transfer that way. 
• Use a splint to immobilize the limb, but keep it loose enough that it does not restrict blood flow. Periodically check fingers or toes (depending on which limb is affected) to make sure they are still pink and warm, indicating good circulation.
• Keep the affected limb lower than the heart. 
• Monitor vital signs so you can tell the medical team what’s been happening. 

If it is going to be more than 30 minutes before the victim can be transported to a medical facility, do the following: 

• Apply a wide constricting band around the limb 2 to 4 inches above the bite to help slow the spread of venom. This is not a tourniquet, and it should not restrict the flow of arterial or venous blood. It operates at the capillary level of blood flow. Keep the band loose enough that you can easily slip a finger or two under it. Keep this in place until the victim reaches the hospital. 
• Within 5 minutes of the bite, apply a suction device over the fang marks and leave it in place for 30 minutes, but do not slit the skin to open the wound before applying suction. 

A little preparation, common sense and caution go a long way toward avoiding problems in snake country. 

The Best Outdoor Socks I've Ever Worn

Maybe you already knew that Merino sheep are reputed to produce the softest and finest wool of any breed. Maybe you already knew that the breed originated in Spain. But did you know that before the 18^th century, the export of Merino sheep from Spain was a crime punishable by death? Valuable stuff, those sheep.

Today, Merino wool is highly prized for articles of outdoor clothing. Now that it’s no longer illegal to export the sheep, market competition helps those of us who like to wear clothing made of Merino wool.

Speaking of which, I want to tell you about my choice in Merino wool socks. They are made by Point6 (www.point6.com).  The company makes socks for several applications: Outdoor, Active, Lifestyle, Cycling, Running, Skiing, and Snowboarding.

 I have socks from two of those categories: Lifestyle and Outdoor — Lifestyle Light Crew ($16.95), ideal for everyday wear; and from the Outdoor category I have Hiking Tech Medium Crew ($18.95); and Trekking Tech Heavy Crew ($18.95). The Outdoor socks feature 2-layer construction for increased cushion for serious backcountry footwork.

My Lifestyle socks work well with dress shoes, making life comfortable at the office, school, church…wherever. The Hiking Tech Medium Crew are ideal for wandering mountain trails while wearing lightweight trail shoes. And the Trekking Tech Heavy Crew socks protect my feet when I'm wearing my serious hiking boots.

I love these socks.  They are exceptionally comfortable. Points6 takes the inherent advantage of Merino wool’s natural fine fiber crimp and soft texture, and works it into an even greater advantage through their special yarn-spinning process that results in fine, compact, soft and durable yarn. The yarn is then knit together using fine-gauge needles that produce a dense count of stitches-per-inch to create increased durability and softness. The socks come in both men’s and women’s sizes ranging from small through medium, large and XL; covering sizes from US women’s size 4 to US men’s size 14.5. They can be machine washed and dried (on warm) without damage to the wool.

One of the natural characteristics of Merino wool is that it does not irritate the skin, causing an itchy sensation as other types of wool does. Merino fibers feature a complex moisture management system that wicks moisture away from the skin to keep feet comfortable, dry and blister-free.

Point6 named their company to reflect part of the human body temperature (98.6) for a reason that I came to understand as I tested these socks. In spite of the cold, rainy weather, my feet remained comfy. And oddly enough, even on warm days, these socks keep my feet at a comfortable temperature.

I am not exaggerating when I say that these are by far the most comfortable and durable outdoor socks I have ever put on my feet. They are more expensive than cheap cotton socks, but trust me, there is absolutely no comparison. And because my feet are my fundamental mode of transportation (especially in a survival situation), they deserve to be well cared for.

700 A Day Dying

People are dying at an unprecidented rate in Moscow, Russia from a combination of smog and high temperatures. An average of 700 per day are dying as the capital city is smothered by heat and poisonous smog that is coming from wildfires across western Russia.

While we might think this is some kind of exotic problem because it's happening a long way from home, let me assure you that this could happen right here in our own backyards. What is causing this situation is very simple to recreate anywhere, so we need to understand what's happening and consider what we would do if we were faced with the same threat.

The two main risk elements are high temperatures and severe air pollution. As to the first factor, daily high temperatures have been in the area of 100 degrees F., prompting Russia's head of weather service to say, "Our ancestors haven't observed or registered a heat like that within 1,000 years."

I'm not convinced that they have weather records that date back 1,000 years, but at least they seem to think this is an unusually hot summer. Diamrid Campbell-Lendrum, of the World Health Orgaization said that deaths could double with higher temperatures alone, and quoted the long-hot summer of 2003 in Europe as an  example. During that couple months of heatwave, there were nearly 15,000 deaths in France alone.

The second factor in Russia's current disaster is the extreme smog, caused by some 550 separate wildfire, filling the air with dangerous levels of pollution. Campbell-lendrum stated that it would be difficult to determine if the majority of deaths is due to the heat or the smog, but the combination is dangerous. In fact, the level of air pollution is measuring 7-times higher than what is considered to be the safe level.

Of course, the elderly, the very young, and the infirm are most at risk of heat-related and smog-related illness and death. It would be one thing if everyone could retreat to an air conditioned home and operate an air filtration system to clean the air. But that's not possible in Russia, and it's not even possible in all parts of the U.S.

Already in the U.S. there are times during the peak of summer temperatures when the electrical utility company cannot keep up with demand. There are "rolling brownouts" or full-blown blackouts just when you need the air conditioner most. Have you thought about what you will do when the power goes off in the middle of a real disaster? We're so used to flipping a switch to adjust the indoor environment, and some folks have forgotten how to live without the modern conveniences.

Unless you can manage to evacuate to someplace cooler and with cleaner air, you might have to take steps to minimize the suffering right where you are.

• Dampen your skin to produce natural air conditioning through the process of evaporation. Moisten articles of clothing to prolong the cooling effect. 
• Use a fan, rather than an air conditioner. Air bowing against your wet skin or clothing will feel almost as good as a real air conditioner. 
• If the humidity level is low, drape wet cloth in front of the fan to produce cool air from evaporation. This is the same principle as used by the venerable "swamp cooler" type of air conditioner, but it only works when ambient humidity is low. 
• Minimize your activity level, to avoid overheating.
• Slow your pace.
• Drink lots of water to replace body fluid lost to perspiration. 
• Eat cold foods that don't require cooking, because cooking will introduce more heat into the house.
• Switch to a mostly vegetarian diet. Eating meats raises the caloric level in the body and creates internal heat. 
• Pull the curtains to block out direct sunlight.
• If you are outdoors, wear light-colored  full-coverage clothing to prevent sunburn and to minimize dehydration.
• When air pollution levels are high, don't go outside unless absolutely necessary. 

When the temperature is high and the smog is literally killing people, it's time to "go to ground" and lay low. Slow everything down. Stay in the shade. Don't move around a lot, and don't breathe any more than necessary. 

Deadly Disease Outbreak

A deadly tropical disease has gotten loose in the U.S. After more than 75 years without any dengue fever cases in Florida, suddenly there is an outbreak in the Keys. And predictions are that it will spread to other areas.

Dengue fever is caused by a virus that belongs to the same family as hepatitis C, West Nile virus, and yellow fever. It is nicknamed "breakbone" of "bone-crusher" disease because those who fall victim report that they feel as if all their bones are broken — a very painful disease.

The virus cannot spread from human to human, so you can't catch it directly from another person who is infected. However, you can catch it indirectly from another person. In fact, that is probably how the disease came to the U.S. in recent days. Someone who became infected through a mosquito bite in another location travelled to Florida and was bitten by a local mosquito. That mosquito sucked up some of the virus-laden blood and then flew off to bite another person, transferring the virus in the process. The newly infected person, unaware that he is now a carrier, goes somewhere else and serves up his blood to yet another mosquito … and the cycle continues. This may sound slow and tedious, but the disease can spread like a wildfire under the right conditions.

Generally, symptoms don't start until about a week after the mosquito bite that delivers the virus. A headache is usually the first indicator, followed by fever, eye pain and bleeding from the eyes, dizziness, spontaneous bruising, oozing blood from skin pores, bleeding gums, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. Vascular leakage can cause blood vessels to leak into spaces around the lungs and abdomen, resulting in dengue shock syndrome (weak, rapid pulse and cold, clammy skin) that has a high rate of mortality.

The bad news is that there is no vaccine to prevent dengue fever, and there is no treatment for victims of the disease. You just have to ride it out and treat each symptom. Blood loss is a major factor, so it is important to avoid aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs because those may worsen the bleeding. Patients need to be under a doctor's care in a hospital setting where IV fluids can be applied to replace fluid loss.

So, since you can't vaccinate against it, and you can't treat it, what can you do?

• Avoid traveling to places known for dengue fever. 
• Stay out of brushy areas or tall grass, because mosquitos like to hide in the foliage.
• Use mosquito repellent on skin and clothing. Repellent containing DEET is recommended. Check with your doctor. 
• When you're going to be outdoors, wear clothing that provides maximum skin coverage — long sleeves, long pants that are tucked into socks, a mosquito net head covering.
• Use bug screens on windows and doors to keep the insects out of your house. 
• Eliminate mosquito breeding sites around your property — these are anything where water can collect (buckets, old tires, hubcaps, etc). Drain puddle areas. Regularly change the water in birdbaths and pet dishes. 
• If you become symptomatic, get to a doctor and report your travel history where you might have become infected.

Surviving In Water

Six teenagers, ranging in age from 13 to 18, died today while wading in a familiar spot of shallow water in a river in northwest Louisiana.

How can that happen?

Apparently, the victims were playing in the shallows and didn't know that there was a sudden drop-off that deepened to about 20 feet. They stepped off the ledge, sank and drowned. According to the report by Shreveport Assistant Fire Chief Fred Sanders, the teens were accompanied by some adults, but neither the kids nor the adults knew how to swim.


It might be too obvious, but I'm going to say it anyway — don't play in the water if you don't know how to swim. That's like saying, don't take a car out on the freeway if you don't know how to drive. Or don't try to fly an airplane if you don't know how. But, no matter how obvious it is, here we have the tragic loss of 6 young people who died because they didn't know how to keep themselves alive in deep water.

There is a water survival technique known as "drownproofing" that everyone should learn — even those who consider themselves to be competent swimmers. The reason is that, if you're suddenly tossed into the water a great distance from shore, you're probably not going to be able to swim to safety before becoming exhausted. By using the drownproofing technique, you extend your survival time. And for those who are non-swimmers, this is their only hope of getting out alive.

Rather than attempt to summarize the technique here, I'm going to give you a link to www.drownproofing.com where you can study the method. If you want more detailed information about this water survival technique, buy the book at www.amazon.com/Drownproofing-New-Technique-Water-Safety/dp/0132208067/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280861381&sr=1-2

If you are a non-swimmer, sign up for swimming lessons at your local Y or some other organization that teaches these things. But by all means, learn the drownproofing method.

If you already know how to swim, add drownproofing to your skills.

If you are a parent or grandparent, please encourage your children and grandchildren to learn to swim. Teach them the buddy system, and get involved yourself by being part of the buddy system for the youth when they're in the water. Use flotation devices, if necessary, and use caution about where wading and swimming take place. These are life-preserving skills, and you never know when you're going to absolutely need them — not just for fun and recreation, but for survival.

Nearly 100% Fatal

There is a disease that kills about 55,000 people each year worldwide. In all of history, once the disease became symptomatic (the patient displayed symptoms of the illness), only 6 are known to have survived. And only 1 person has ever survived when no treatment was administered. It's a disease that's about as close to being 100% fatal as you can possibly get.

What is it? Rabies — a viral infection that is very easily transmitted from rabid animals to humans. Worldwide, the most prevalent carrier of rabies is dogs, but in the United States, that honor goes to the raccoon in the mid-Atlantic and northeast states, and the skunk in the midwest. However, foxes, dogs, coyotes, wolves and bats are also popular transmitters of the disease. Rabies can be spread by domestic farm animals, groundhogs, weasels, bears, rodents, squirrels, and other animals. Elsewhere in the world, monkeys also transmit the virus. India has the highest rate of human rabies in the world, and the problem is caused by stray dogs.

The virus is normally transmitted through transfer of saliva during a bite incident, but it can also happen by other means. When the virus is introduced into a human, it enters the peripheral nervous system and travels by way of the nerves to the central nervous system. When it reaches the brain, it causes encephalitis. By the time the victim has symptoms, it's almost always too late for treatment. The only way to save a rabies victim is to inject vaccine soon after the bite has happened, and before symptoms show up.

Rabies infection in humans in the U.S. is fairly rare, due in part because of the active animal control and vaccination programs that battle against the disease in dogs and cats. But the incidence of human rabies in North America is now on the rise. And it would become much worse following a catastrophic disaster that causes a halt to the vaccination program and leaves animals roaming freely and interacting with infected wildlife. It is a scenario in which rabies could become a very real threat to the health of the human populace.

If you suspect that you have been exposed to the rabies virus, here's what to do:

• Thoroughly wash the area of the wound for at least 5 minutes, using soap and water. This will help reduce the number of viral particles near the open wound. 
• Apply a virucidal antiseptic such as providone-iodine, iodine tincture, aquaeous iodine solution or alcohol to the wound after washing with soap and water. 
• Get to a doctor as quickly as possible and arrange for treatment with 1 dose of human rabies immunoglobulin and 4 doses of rabies vaccine each day for the next 14 days. 

Cougar Tales

Yesterday, a friend was telling me about a trip into the backcountry of Washington State. He and a buddy hiked 7 miles over a mountain into a remote canyon and made camp. The next morning, he heard a whistle off in the distance, so he whistled back, thinking it might be another hiker approaching their camp. A minute later, a cougar appeared at the edge of the clearing, and it stood there intently staring at my friend and his buddy.

The whistle was actually a natural call made by the cougar when trying to communicate with other members of their family group. By whistling back, my friend had inadvertently called the cougar right into their camp. Until he told me this story, I was not aware that cougars whistle. But a quick bit of research proved that was right. A cougar will make a variety of noises including a scream, a purr, a hiss, a meow, and a spitting sound. And it will also whistle.

The guys had no firearms with them, and not wanting to share the camp with a mountain lion, they decided to pack it up and get out of there. They quickly grabbed their gear and headed up the mountain trail away from the cougar. But when my friend looked back, he noticed that the cat was following them, keeping a distance of about 150 feet. Every time he looked, the cat was still there, and it stalked them for the full 7 miles back to their truck.

When my friend was telling me about this incident, he said he felt certain that if he had been alone the cougar would have taken him down. That's probably true. This cat seemed to have no fear of the men, and was willing to track them for a long distance up and over a mountain, possibly just waiting for an opportunity to take one of the men if they got separated too far from each other.

The normal pattern for a cougar is to single out one victim, but to hang back or avoid people who are in groups. However, it has been known for a mountain lion to attack a hiker or a mountain biker even when there are other people not far away. If there is any separation of the humans, the cat might make his move.

So the rule in cougar country is to never hike or bike alone, and stay close to each other in your group. A mountain lion is one of the few wild animals that will actually stalk a human with the intent to kill. Now that it's legal to carry firearms into National Parks, you might consider packing a defensive weapon.

And if you hear a whistle, you might want to wait a minute and figure out what's making the noise before returning the call. Who knew?