There are several venomous snake species in North America, and snake bites can be deadly. Learn how to identify & treat a snake bite with this infographic.
Survive Snake Bites with This Helpful Infographic
With 7000-8000 venomous snake bites reported every year in North America, it’s important to be able to identify which snake could leave you with a potentially deadly bite or just a nasty nip. Having said that, although there are thousands of venomous snake bites each year, very few result in death due to antivenin treatments.
Granted, you’re unlikely to die from a bite, but it can have some serious side effects and the neurotoxins in the poison will destroy your tissue and can even lead to temporary paralysis. Depending on the seriousness and your reaction to the bite, some people even require skin grafts.
There are a few things you can do in order to prevent snake bites, such as researching the area you’re going to be in and understanding the typical habitats of each venomous snake. You should try to refrain from turning over any logs or placing your hands under rocks, as snakes hide in these places. If you are unfortunate enough to be bitten by one, you should try to phone the emergency services as soon as possible and provide a good description of the snake. If possible, snap a photo of it, unless it puts you at risk of being bitten again.
The coral snake, rattlesnake, copperhead and cottonmouth each have distinguishing features and it is important to learn their marking so you can identify a potentially deadly threat. The guys over at Sniff Outdoors have produced an infographic on how to identify each one and what to do should you encounter a venomous snake.
Do you have any snake bite survival tips of your own? Share them with us in the comments!
