Diary of a snake bite victim

[Clusterfrack]

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2001...ake-researcher

Venomous Bite Kills Snake Researcher

Sep. 27, 2001
A field expedition to a remote region of Myanmar in Southeast Asia ended in tragedy earlier this month, when a prominent snake expert succumbed to a poisonous snakebite. Joseph Slowinski, 38, is believed to be the first academic herpetologist killed by a snakebite in the field, though at least two others have died of bites from laboratory animals.

[Totem Polar]

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2001...ake-researcher

Venomous Bite Kills Snake Researcher

Sep. 27, 2001
A field expedition to a remote region of Myanmar in Southeast Asia ended in tragedy earlier this month, when a prominent snake expert succumbed to a poisonous snakebite. Joseph Slowinski, 38, is believed to be the first academic herpetologist killed by a snakebite in the field, though at least two others have died of bites from laboratory animals.

Cool site in that link.

At least he went out the way he lived: discovering new species:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0406084037.htm

April 6, 2021
Source:
Pensoft Publishers
Summary:
The venomous krait that caused the death of famous herpetologist Joseph B. Slowinski turns out to be new to science, according to recent research. The new species, Bungarus suzhenae, was named after the character Bai Su Zhen from the Chinese myth the Legend of White Snake.

[JRB]

I lived with lots of snakes in my youth. I was actually bit one time but I never identified the snake that bit me on the hand as I was walking down a trail in a cut bank to a creek bottom. Fortunately it wasn't poisonous but I never knew that for a about an hour. I went back to find the snake and it was gone. I knew a kid in Columbus NM that lost 2 fingers to a bite from a diamond back. You may not die but the poison will kill tissues and muscle.

No poisonous snakes where I live now but it took me a long time to drop my guard once I moved here. I had some seriously close encounters with poisonous snakes when I lived and worked in AZ. Just about everyone I worked with on a survey crew carried a 22 revolver for poisonous snakes. We looked like a bunch of desperados when we worked in the boonies.

A tow truck driver I know in southern NM made the best case I've ever heard for a Taurus Judge - He tows at night, nighttime brings rattlesnakes out onto the nice warm pavement, and .410 works great on rattlers. Being a big revolver it doesn't really raise too many eyebrows down there, either.

[11B10]

Herpetologist Karl Schmidt in 1957 meticulously recorded his own death after being bitten by a boomslang.

LL....there's a huge part of me that really wanted to click "LIKE," but when I realized I won't be able to unsee the images of that boomslang's fangs - especially when I close my eyes tonight....well.

To quote a certain movie character: "Why is it always snakes?"

[Borderland]

A tow truck driver I know in southern NM made the best case I've ever heard for a Taurus Judge - He tows at night, nighttime brings rattlesnakes out onto the nice warm pavement, and .410 works great on rattlers. Being a big revolver it doesn't really raise too many eyebrows down there, either.

I would have liked one of those when I worked down there.

[Duelist]

A tow truck driver I know in southern NM made the best case I've ever heard for a Taurus Judge - He tows at night, nighttime brings rattlesnakes out onto the nice warm pavement, and .410 works great on rattlers. Being a big revolver it doesn't really raise too many eyebrows down there, either.

Pretty sure a regular .38 or .44 or .45 loaded with snake shot works pretty well on snakes at distances where they are actually problems.

[Clusterfrack]

[JRB]

Pretty sure a regular .38 or .44 or .45 loaded with snake shot works pretty well on snakes at distances where they are actually problems.

Funny you'd mention that. I asked him the same thing since I know he owns at least one old N-frame. He chose the Polymer Judge because it was lighter, ugly, and under $300 so he didn't care if it got scraped or beat up while he was climbing under cars/trucks etc and generally getting caked in southern NM dirt. He'd hose it out with brake cleaner and compressed air and applied some rem oil in some areas when the DA pull got too heavy on a weekly-ish function check. Not a fan of the gun's marketed purpose, but for that purpose it did make sense to me.

If you want to be annoyed by the existence of a Judge Poly, I can tell you the story about a PFC I had as a squad leader.
This PFC went to a local gun store and traded in his Grandpa's 2nd gen Colt Detective Special complete with vintage leather for a *GREEN* Taurus Judge Poly with some sausage sack holster and a few boxes of special .410 gimmicky 'Judge/Governor optimized' defensive loads. Yes, I called the gun store and tried to buy the Colt from them and had a nice convo with the dude, who said this PFC couldn't be talked out of it and they weren't stupid enough to say no to a Colt like that, and the owner of the store chose to keep it for his personal collection. Can't blame them, given the whole situation.

By the time this PFC was a 24 year old SPC, he'd been married and divorced twice, and both ex-wives had cheated on him and claimed children from other men were genetically his. So simple to say that this dude didn't make great decisions.

[Duelist]

Funny you'd mention that. I asked him the same thing since I know he owns at least one old N-frame. He chose the Polymer Judge because it was lighter, ugly, and under $300 so he didn't care if it got scraped or beat up while he was climbing under cars/trucks etc and generally getting caked in southern NM dirt. He'd hose it out with brake cleaner and compressed air and applied some rem oil in some areas when the DA pull got too heavy on a weekly-ish function check. Not a fan of the gun's marketed purpose, but for that purpose it did make sense to me.

If you want to be annoyed by the existence of a Judge Poly, I can tell you the story about a PFC I had as a squad leader.
This PFC went to a local gun store and traded in his Grandpa's 2nd gen Colt Detective Special complete with vintage leather for a *GREEN* Taurus Judge Poly with some sausage sack holster and a few boxes of special .410 gimmicky 'Judge/Governor optimized' defensive loads. Yes, I called the gun store and tried to buy the Colt from them and had a nice convo with the dude, who said this PFC couldn't be talked out of it and they weren't stupid enough to say no to a Colt like that, and the owner of the store chose to keep it for his personal collection. Can't blame them, given the whole situation.

By the time this PFC was a 24 year old SPC, he'd been married and divorced twice, and both ex-wives had cheated on him and claimed children from other men were genetically his. So simple to say that this dude didn't make great decisions.

Nah, I’m not annoyed by the existence of particular guns. Your PFC would have annoyed me greatly, and not just for the idiotic trade he made for the Judge.

Your truck driver acquaintance probably does have the most legit use for one I’ve ever heard of, but I think even a polymer S&W “Bodyguard” or Charter Bulldog would do the same thing and be less bulky to crawl around cars with.

[JRB]

Nah, I’m not annoyed by the existence of particular guns. Your PFC would have annoyed me greatly, and not just for the idiotic trade he made for the Judge.

Your truck driver acquaintance probably does have the most legit use for one I’ve ever heard of, but I think even a polymer S&W “Bodyguard” or Charter Bulldog would do the same thing and be less bulky to crawl around cars with.

Man, I'm pretty sure around 1/3 of my grey hair came from being in charge of that kid. He was the embodiment of 'why the hell do they really need a warning label here?' Him. They put it there for him, not because he'd ever read it, but so that some lawyer couldn't make a nice 30% off of that warning label being absent.