Venomous Snakebites Can Be Painful and Expensive, Says Expert

ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2012) — Coming to an area near you: snakes, and plenty of them. With unusually warm temperatures and plenty of rainfall this spring, experts say this could be a bumper crop year for snakes. While Texas has never been short on the snake commodities list, people and pets should be aware that they are out and about, says a Texas A&M University expert.

Jill Heatley, associate professor of veterinary medicine, notes she and other veterinarians have already seen several snake-bitten pets brought into the Small Animal Hospital at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

She says a snakebite on a human can be painful -- and very expensive.

It is not uncommon for a person bitten by a venomous snake to have medical bills of $50,000 or more because of hospitalization, which can run from one day to several weeks, treatments on damaged tissues, plus antivenin treatments that can run into the thousands of dollars, she adds.

Although snakes are found in most of the world -- Ireland, Iceland and New Zealand are some of the few snake-free countries -- only four types found in Texas are venomous: the coral snake, copperhead, rattlesnake and cottonmouth (also called water moccasin), and the state is a ground zero, slithering paradise for all of them.

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120416154051.htm