I’m terrified of rattlesnakes! I’m actually scared of all kinds of snakes. When I was younger we lived by a creek and I’d catch snakes and put them in a box and take them home in hopes that my mother would let me keep them as a pet. My mom was not thrilled with the idea. Now even if I know it is a garden snake I never dare pick one up. My kids have never had the desire to hold or handle a snake. Since we moved to the country I have encountered too many rattlesnakes. Most of the time we saw them on the road near our house but we were in our car. However, one time I found a rattlesnake in our garage. Since then we try to keep everything off the ground. Because there are rattlesnakes where we live it is very important for us to know more about how amazing rattlesnakes are and what to do if ever we bitten by one.
Rattlesnake Safety
Forget everything you saw in Hollywood movies or you’ve ever heard about treating a rattlesnake bite. I question why the media shows us false images. I guess it makes the scenes or event more tragic but it confuses those who never actually look into what to do if bitten by a rattlesnake. I’m so glad we actually learned that everything we thought we should do is wrong. This misinterpretation could make the situation so much worse. It’s always wise to look into things ourselves and not to take what we see at face value.
The first thing you need to do is stay calm and remember that most of the time the bite is not fatal. If you are frantic your heart will rise and the venom with spread more rapidly. Walk away slowly from the rattlesnake so that you are not bitten again. If you can call 911. Never catch the snake. You don’t need it as an identification to show to the doctors. Your safety and that of others is far more important. Let your wound bleed for a few minutes. This helps some of the venom to come out. Then bandage your wound. Some recommend not cleaning your wound because this helps the doctors identify if the snake was venomous and what kind of snake it is because there is greater chances venom will be found on your skin or dressing. Remove all rings and bracelets. If you are wearing a tight shirt or jeans cut them so that the area near your wound has more room. There is a great chance that the area where you were bitten will swell up. Often people get bitten on their hand and not their foot. A very small percent get bitten on their foot. So if your out and about look before you grab something or place your hand somewhere. If you get bitten on your hand and this occurs while your on a trail you want to place your hand in a sling and walk out slowly. Do not run and try to stay calm. You want to walk slowly if you can because if you wait too long for help to arrive you’ll be very swollen and if you wait four to five hours you’ll suffer from tissue damage. It is better to walk than sit for hours. However, if help can arrive quickly then stay calm and move to a safe location and stay put until help arrives. Remember to keep the bitten area below the heart.
Please do not cut or suck. It is not clean and you can do more damage than good. Our mouths are full of germs and the persons wound will most likely get an infection. Do not put any ice on your wound. Yes that will numb the pain but it inhibits blood flow to the area. Do not take any pain medication or drink alcohol. Also do not put a tourniquet on. Some of the above things I just mentioned are things you might have seen in a movie. They are the wrong things to do.
If there is a rattlesnake in your garage please don’t ever try to remove or kill it yourself. We actually killed the one in our garage because we had no clue what to do. My son used a hose and sprayed the rattlesnake with water to distract it and then I used a shovel and killed it. I can not believe that we did that. We could have been harmed. So if you find a rattlesnake in your garage, which I pray you never will, please call a local animal control center. Then watch the snake from a far away and safe distance. They will know how to handle the rattlesnake and relocate the rattlesnake to a different environment. Rattlesnakes are vital to our environment even if we fear them.
To help this make sense and stick better in Eves mind I printed out what to do and not to do if bitten by a snake. I think sweet Eve really understood it but was a bit scared because she was pretty serious the entire time.
About Rattlesnakes
Now that I have scared you, I want you to know that rattlesnakes are so amazing and that they are not slithering after us in hopes to bite us. They bite because they get scared and feel threatened. Often times we are in their territory and they bite to protect themselves from us.
There are more than 30 different kinds of rattlesnakes so its important to know what kind live in your area. The rattlesnake is made up of a head, a long body, and a tail that has a rattle on the end of it. Rattlesnakes are the only snakes that have a rattle. The rattle is made up of keratin. Hair, nails, horns, feathers are all made up of keratin. The sound of a rattle can be heard sixty feet away. The coolest thing is that they shake their rattle so fast, up to fifty times a second and they can keep doing this for up to three hours. Now the purpose of the rattle is to warn you because they really do not want to bite you. Sometimes they don’t warn you and you don’t hear the buzzing sound the rattle makes. Every year about three new sections (buttons) may be added to the rattle.
The rattlesnake has three different layers of skin. The snakes skin sheds twice a year. In the same way that we need to buy new clothes well rattlesnakes shed their outer layer skin when it becomes too small for them. During shedding season the rattlesnake will rub against rocks until outer layer peels off. This is the time when the rattlesnake is actually weak and you’ll notice that a new section of its rattle is added.
We love touching and actually seeing what we are studying. You can order the rattlesnake fangs, bones, and rattle on etsy.
Rattlesnake Lung
A rattlesnake has only one lung but this is one big lung. It can stretch to almost 3/4 of the total body length. Can you imagine a lung that could stretch from your neck down to your knees? Now their lungs work differently than ours. They don’t need the exchange of respiratory gasses to live and they breath by contacting muscles between their ribs.
Now that we talked about lungs we wanted to see if we can hold a lot of air in our lungs. This is a pretty fun experiment. All you need is a 1 litter bottle filled with water, a straw, a large bowl less than half way filled with water, and you.
Place the 1 litter bottle with the cap in the bowl that already has some water in it. Then slowly unscrew the cap, trying not to let water come out of the bottle. Place a straw into the 1 litter bottle. Take a deep breath in and place your mouth on the straw. Now breath out the air and as you do so water from the 1 litter bottle will leave and go to the bowl. The empty area in the 1 litter bottle shows you how much air you have in your lungs.
Bubble Snake
What is there not to love about bubbles? If your kids don’t taste any of the dish soap then this will be a fun activity. Also, your child really has to blow in order to make a snake. This is a perfect summer activity. What you’ll need is an empty water bottle, a sock, rubber band, dish soap, and some food coloring. First cut the bottom of the empty bottle. Then place some dish soap and some water in the water bottle. Shake the bottle a bit. Next, place a sock over the bottom of the bottle and hold the sock by using a rubber band. You can add some food coloring to the sock so that your bubble snake can have some colors. Then you can go outside and unscrew the water bottle and blow to make a bubble snake. When it gets warm we will be doing this activity very often.
Have you ever had an experience with a rattlesnake? If so what was it like?
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Tara Pittman
We have rattlesnakes here but I have one seen one once in my twenty years of living here. Good advice for me to remember.
What Corinne Did
I have never seen or encountered rattlesnake before. We don’t have any here but I don’t like snake in a general way. Too scary! xx corinne
Barbara Ritzman
Funny we were just talking about snakes. I am not a fan of snakes, bugs or anything that flies!!
Athena
I moved to Kansas when I was younger and was so naiive. I needed to walk to the store at one point – it was more than three miles to walk around but if I cut through this large open field it would be about 200 yards. Being from New England that seemed like a no brainer. Until I climbed the wall and got halfway through the field where I stopped dead in my tracks. All I ever had to worry about was garden snakes. I suddenly heard a distant rattle. Without thinking I sprinted as fast as I could through the rest of the field – never again did I cut through. That shortcut wasn’t worth it.
Oyinkan Ogunleye
Am I the only one staring at that beautiful black and white pencil skirt? Or is it a midi skirt? Its so cute.
Becca Wilson
They are more brave than I am. I don’t do snakes well and so this is great information.
Angela Tolsma
Snakes are kinda terrifying but having access to more information about them is so good. I didn’t know that most bites happen on the hand vs the foot. I wish media was more accurate!
Whitney Roberts Kutch
This literally gave me goosebumps…. Snakes are one of my biggest fears!! Thank you for the instructions on what to do because I would not have known!
Stephanie
In SE Texas, I’ve always heard to watch for Copperheads more than anything, and when I lived in SW Florida, we had to watch for Water Moccasins. I don’t like snakes, but I am not afraid of them either because my sister had a bunch of snakes as pets when we were growing up, the largest a 6 foot boa constrictor named Tahlula.
Lois Alter Mark
Wow, you are such a good mother to actually get that snake to teach your kids! That would terrify me. We had a rattlesnake in our backyard once and it was so scary. It’s great that you’re teaching your kids about them now.
Marjie Mare
I am so scared of snakes even seeing them on TV makes me nervous. Beleive it or not, my daughters are not scared of them.
Msddah
O wow didnt know about this and glad I came across this post. Will def be saving for later. Great post!
sarah camille
This is such a creative project! Rattlesnakes are super scary too. I once stumbled (almost walked into!!) across a rattlesnake eating a squirrel in my parent’s backyard. They are creepy but definitely amazing to see!
April
Oh my goodness I hate snakes! I usually run away and wait for my husband to get home. This post is so helpful though! Thanks for all the information.
April
Eloise
wow! I live in MN so these aren’t around my neck of the woods, BUT if I ever do travel somewhere were Rattlesnakes are I’ll be sure to remember this info… thanks for the heads up (and thanks for mentioning to NOT suck out the lemon like in the millions of movies!)
Jakub Husek
What a cool post! I am actually terrified of all snakes, but especially rattlesnakes because they don’t mess around š Thank you for sharing this, it was a fun read!
Angela @marathonsandmotivation.com
This is a very informative post! I am terrified of rattle snakes too!! Fortunately, I live in Maine now and it is too cold for them here š
Gabryl Ley
I’m scared of any snake.. Tackling this with your kids is a great thing!
Akim R.
Wow! I’ll surely get those rattlesnake fangs, bones, and rattle on etsy. I’ll check it out!
Kris
You’re a great mom. You’re always finding ways for your children to get interested in learning about different creatures
Anshika Juneja
We have encountered rattlesnakes in our backyard and I must agree that they are very scary. Me and my brother always use to run towards the door after watching these snakes, but everytime our Mom handled them like a boss. This article reminds me of so much of what we have seen as children!
Kossy
Personally Iām scared of rattlesnakes!… No.. Iām actually terrified of all kinds of snakes.
Kara Ferwerda
Wow! looks like an amazing group and we have rattlesnakes so this is very good to know!
Vyom Kapoor
Ohh my godness, I cant even begin to express how scared I am of snakes. I literally detest them probably because i do not know much about them except that they are poisonous. This was such a detailed and informative post and will definitely keep a print of of the dos and donts.