Camping With Poisonous Snakes and Spiders
Of course there are spiders, but I doubt any will crawl into our
sleeping bags tonight. Living with someone with a newly developed
passion for camping can teach you a lot about yourself. But since
camping is a nice way to save money while still having a great vacation,
I've learned to cope happily. Here's what I learned about camping with
the neighborhood's snakes and spiders. Most are harmless to people and,
in fact, provide great benefits, such as keeping rodent and insect pest
populations in check. So it is important - for our own sake -- to be
good neighbors to local snakes and spiders.Once you know where you plan
to camp, learn about the poisonous snakes and spiders in the area. One
of the best informational resources for photos and quick answers is
venombyte.com.Venombyte offers free descriptions, locations and photos of every kind of poisonous snake and spider in the U.S.Print out the appropriate photos so everyone, especially children, knows what to avoid and what to do if bitten. Any bite from a poisonous snake or spider should be regarded as a potential medical emergency so everyone in your camping group should have a number for emergency assistance available and know what to do until help arrives or until the person can be taken to a hospital. Even non-venomous snake bites should be treated because infections and allergic reactions are occasioned in some people. Common-sense approaches regarding your new neighbors prevent most unwanted encounters. If you leave your campsite during the day, zip up your tent against things that crawl along the ground. If you do leave it unzipped, carefully check your tent's interior and shake your bedding before crawling inside.
Snakes:
Hike along established trails, step onto then off (rather than simply over) logs, avoid tall grass and be careful when picking up firewood or rocks for your campfire. When rock climbing, remember a snake may be sunning itself or waiting for prey on the ledge you're reaching for. According to the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, every one of the lower 48 states, except Maine, has at least one poisonous snake species. Poisonous snakes in the U.S. include: (1) Copperheads (Broad-banded, Northern, Osage, Southern and Trans-Pecos), (2) Cottonmouths (Eastern, Florida and Western), (3) Rattlesnakes (Animas Ridgenose, Arizona Black, Arizona Ridgenose, Banded Rock, Carolina Pygmy, Colorado Desert Sidewinder, Desert Massasauga, Dusky Pygmy, Eastern Diamondback, Eastern Massasauga, Grand Canyon, Great Basin, Hopi, Midget Faded, Mojave Desert Sidewinder, Mojave, Mottled Rock, Northern Black-tailed, Northern Pacific, Panamint Speckled, Prairie, Sonoran Desert, Southern Pacific, Southwestern Speckled, Tiger, Timber, Western Diamondback, Western Massasauga, Western Pygmy and Western Twin Spotted) and (4) Coral Snakes (Arizona, Eastern and Texas). If someone is bitten, some resources recommend keeping the bitten person's heart elevated higher than the bite until they can reach a hospital. If it will take more than 30 minutes to get a bite victim to a hospital, some resources suggest placing a suction device over the bite to help suck out the poison (commercial snake bite kits often include suction kits). But most medical authorities reportedly warn not to cut into the wound, use tourniquets or cool the bite area with ice. While some poisonous snakes may inject little venom (venom injection is a voluntary act by the snake), others - like the Eastern Diamondbacks which live in the South - can inject large amounts of venom in a single strike. In those cases, antivenins may be the only treatment to save someone.
