Snake season strikes Barstow

BARSTOW — Dianna Ross came in to work at the Barstow Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday morning to find an unwelcome visitor on her door step — a three and a half-foot gopher snake.

Although she knew the snake was harmless, Ross called in the Barstow Fire Protection District to remove it, not wanting to frighten bus loads of tourists with the sight of a snake on the premises.

With temperatures reaching triple digits, the snakes are out in full force in the Barstow area. That means that more citizens, like Ross, will have to decide what to do after being confronted with unexpected reptile guests.

Firefighters caught the chamber’s visitor and released the snake in the Mojave River bottom.

Myke Clarkson, an education specialist with the North American Field Herping Association, said that removing the gopher snake might not have been the best move. Non-venomous snakes compete with rattlesnakes for habitat and prey, so having harmless snakes on your property may help to deter the rattlers, he said.

“If you remove gopher snakes and king snakes, it opens a hole in the ecosystem,” he said.

Other deterrents to snakes include clearing debris and weeds that might provide them with shelter, and making sure there is no standing water close to the house, Clarkson said.

About 8,000 people are bitten by poisonous reptiles in the United States each year, he said. Of those, only eight to 12 die from the venom. For people in the Barstow area, the three species of rattlesnakes found locally are the only venomous snakes to worry about, he said.

Dr. Mike Glassey, a medical entomologist who acts as resident snake expert at Fort Irwin, said he has only seen 14 people bitten by rattlesnakes in his 30 years on the base. Of those, none were fatal or involved lasting damage.

Rattlers are fairly rare in Barstow as well, said Elena Rodriguez with Barstow Animal Control. The last rattlesnake call she remembered responding to in the city was two years ago. The caller had used a shovel to put the snake in an ice chest, not a course of action that Rodriguez endorses.

“I wouldn’t recommend that you pick it up with a shovel,” she said. “He got lucky, because the snake had just eaten.”

Although the rattlesnake was slowed down by the process of digesting its prey, by the time Rodriguez arrived, the snake had vomited up its meal and was ready to strike again.

About 98 percent of people bit by rattlesnakes are trying to catch or kill them, Glassey said. Clarkson said that alcohol is another frequent factor in snake bite incidents.

“I’d say about half are idiots, and the other half are hikers and unlucky people that stick their hands under logs and don’t look where they put their hands,” he said.

In the event of a snake bite, both experts advised against attempting to draw out the venom or using a tourniquet. Glassey also advised against putting ice on the bite, which may cause the venom to remain concentrated in one spot, causing more tissue damage.

“The solution to pollution is dilution,” Glassey said. “And as the venom is going through your body, it’s being diluted.”

The best course of action, Glassey said, is to remain as calm as possible, remove tight-fitting clothes and jewelry, keep the bite below heart level if possible, and call 911 immediately.

To have a snake removed from your property, call Animal Control at the Barstow Humane Society at 252-4800. If Animal Control is unavailable, Rodriguez recommended calling a local law enforcement agency.

Did you know:
Statistically, some people are more likely than others to suffer snakebites.

Myke Clarkson, an education specialist with the North American Field Herping Association said men between the ages of 18 and 34 are the most commonly bitten demographic. About 44 percent of snake bite incidents involve alcohol consumption. Of alcohol-involved cases where the victims are between the ages of 18 and 34, 63 percent of the victims had tattoos, Clarkson said.

While alcohol was not a factor in his own snake bite, Clarkson fits that demographic in another way. A year after he had the Chinese symbol for “snake” tattooed on his hand, a snake bit him, leading to a partial amputation of the thumb.

Did you also know:
Dead snakes can still bite. Dr. Mike Glassey, a snake expert at Fort Irwin, said that a nervous reflex may cause snakes to bite 19 to 22 hours after they are clinically dead. Chopping the snake’s head off doesn’t necessarily protect you; the head may still be about to bite one or two hours later, Glassey said. Rather than trying to kill a venomous snake, the best approach is to keep your distance and call Animal Control to remove the animal, he said.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or abby_sewell@link.freedom.com