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Why I CAN'T ride!!! part 1

Bobcat316

Member
A story that I thought you would get a kick out of (everyone else has).

Why I can't ride my Harley. As you know I am new at this board and bought my first Harley on the 1st of October.

On the morning of October 20th at 4:00 am in China Spring TX (just north of Waco). My little Jack Russel Terrier starting going crazy. Barking his head off. I thought someone was in the house and coming down the hall since the dog was right outside my bedroom door (he sleeps in my sons room).

I opened my bedroom door and stepped out into the hall, expecting to come eye to eye with an intruder.

Instead what I did was stepped on a rattlesnake that my dog had pushed up against my bedroom door. I knew I stepped on a snake and about then I felt the prick of its fangs hit my foot. It hit my toe. I pulled away, turned on the light, saw the snake and worked it into the dressing area of the master bathroom. My son brought me a golf club ( 5 iron Taylormade) and I smacked the snake one time and gut its head off about 4 inches from the head.

I have handled snakes all my life and have always liked snakes so the shock of being bit was nowhere near what it would have been had I been normal (freaked out by snakes). So I put the snake in a bag, got dressed, even grabbed a couple of sausage biscuits, got into our van, and my wife drove me to emergency 30 miles away. I called 911 on the way and told them what happened and to inform the hospital. They were waiting at the door when we pulled up. All of them. They all wanted to see the snakebite victim.
 
Why I CAN'T ride!!! part 2 The aftermath

The aftermath:

20-30 minutes after the bite and well on our way to emergency the pain set in. It started at mt foot at the site of the bite and began to work its way up my foot, on into the ankle, up into the calf, and all the way to my inner thigh. The male nurse waiting at the door said "I know this is a stupid question but do you have the snake?". I said yes and I had brought the snake with me to the hospital. Always A wise thing to do if bitten by any venomous animal.

They rolled me in and IVed me with pain killers Delodid and later Morphine. They took several samples of blood and hooked me up to all of the monitors. My vitals remained stable and my blood was satisfactory in their view so they did not administer anti-venen. I was in the emergency room from 5:30 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon before they released me to go home.

By Thursday I was back in the care of my family doctor, and my foot was swollen and black and blue. It was the color of an eggplant and hurt to have it anywhere but up and still. My blood platelet count had dropped to an alarming level but started to get back to normal the nest day. I had to spend a whole week in bed and on my back. I got up to go to the bathroom and bath but that was about it and that required a wheelchair.

The following Monday I went back to work (I am a college instructor) and had to use a wheelchair. And was in that wheelchair all last week. Unable to put any weight on my leg.

By Saturday I was beginning to stand and walk. This Monday I came to work and left the wheelchair in the van.

Yesterday, I started up the Ultra and rode about 15 miles. The pressure of my boot on my still swollen foot was a bit of a problem but I intend to get in some riding this weekend.

As I mentioned I have handled snakes all of my life and many years ago was bitten by a baby rattlesnake ,not a real strong bite, but enough to where the doctors think maybe some immunity developed and helped with this bite.

Hope this story wasn't too long and boring, but everyone has wanted to hear it.

Thanks
Bob
 
Wow! I, too, am a snake enthusiast but you gotta do what you gotta do, as they say. Lucky it didn't get your Jack Russel - I've got one of those, too, and I know they don't back down very willingly!

Glad you're on the road to a full recovery, BUT, don't rush getting back into riding. If you can't operate ALL of the controls in a pain free manner, you owe it to yourself to wait a bit. I know, easy for me to say. But you know in your heart that I'm right.
 
YIKES!!!! I would have freeked out myself. Glad you're on the mend, but like Dr. said don't rush it!!
 
Great story; I ran into a few rattle snakes when stationed @ Cannon AFB in New Mexico - never bitten, though (thank goodness). Glad to see you made a speedy recovery & are back on the bike.
 
Yikes!! Glad your healing and don't rush back as Dr. D stated.

I love turkey hunting and each Spring, here in FL, I put on my 17" snake boots each morning just waiting to see if they will stop a bite. Luckily I never tested them out, but have come face to face with water moccasins, a rattler, a pygmy rattler and a coral snake (no fangs so nothing to worry about I guess). Water moccasins don't back down, they actualy come at you. I found that out when I was sitting on the ground next to a swamp (in the dark!!!). Snakes just freak me out.

When you get back on your Ultra, have fun and ride safe!
 
yikes, i hate snakes!! once i was in a pet store , and a guy walked in with a snake wrapped around his neck. i almost had a heart attack and ran out like a girl!
you never mention where the rattlesnake came from.
 
Why I CAN'T ride!!! part 1

It is my right foot and my main concer was being able to hold the bike up. That seemed to be fine so far. I pushed the bike up the drive way with my son at my right side just in case. Seems like it is going to be OK.
Thanks
Bob

I have pics of the snake and the foot im my phone. I will get them onto my computer and post them soon.
Bob

I live out in the contry. I would suspect that while dealing with the bike or the boat the door was open and it crawled in. This is the time of year that snakes start to den. We have had record levels of rain that has saturated the ground and flooding den areas. The snake probably thought it had found a nice warm hunting ground.

Now see, the Centipede would freak me out like most freak out on snakes. I hate them and scoripions.
 
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Sounds like you are a lucky man. I'm terrified of snakes and the thought of getting bitten isn't a comfortable thought for me neither. Good luck.
 
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