snake bite???

Spadone · January 17, 2001, 06:55 PM

I just read an add for Mace's 100,000 volt stun gun. It said it was also effective on snake bites. Can anyone tell me how this works?

JMH · January 17, 2001, 07:11 PM

I'm, uh, stunned that this myth is still being passed around. Electric current has absolutely no effect on any type of snake venom. Period. This idea has been investigated and rejected thoroughly. By the way, I am a biologist who's written a field guide to western reptiles and amphibians, so I'm not just passing on hearsay. The best way to use electric current if you're bitten by a venomous snake is to engage the starter motor to your car and get to a hospital!

Spadone · January 17, 2001, 07:27 PM

Thanks, thought it sounded weird!

LawDog · January 18, 2001, 02:48 AM

I met a gentlemen once who believed the 'decomposition of venom by electricity' myth, until he got hit by a rattlesnake and used a car battery, jumper cables and the starter lead to shock himself.

Silly twit apparently did more damage with the electricity than the venom did.

LawDog

JWR · January 18, 2001, 09:17 AM

Bit by snake?!? You can't let one get away with that. Bite him back! Works on dogs, too. I'm still working on bears; apparently slapping it in the face is only somewhat effective...

CD1 · January 18, 2001, 12:14 PM

Talk about a bad day...yeah I got bit by a cottonmouth, then my buddy shot me with the stun gun...ouch...OUCH!

Art Eatman · January 18, 2001, 05:09 PM

LawDog, I can sure see why using a jumper off the battery wouldn't do any good, myth or no. I don't even see how it could give much of a shock, at 12 volts...Lord knows, I've held hot leads many times--unless the guy was using the actual arc from a short, for the heat.

The myth began, I believe, in South America. The idea is to use a spark plug wire from a running motor and grounded into the bite-area. The high voltage supposedly decomposes the venom into a non-toxic material. The typical story goes, "I knew this guy, and his buddy got bit by a Fer de Lance, and..."

, Art

slojim · January 19, 2001, 10:31 PM

Umm, Art, despite any past luck, I don't recommend licking any starter battery terminals. A car battery is definitely enough to cause damage. They are designed to have a high discharge rate, so it is not at all the same effect as, say 5 D cells in series, even though the voltage is roughly the same. No offense, and this is my field. But I still want to know how the Fer-de-Lance story turns out

January 18, 2001, 02:48 AM	#4
LawDog Staff Emeritus Join Date: September 15, 1999 Location: Where am I going? Why am I in this handbasket? Posts: 4,194	I met a gentlemen once who believed the 'decomposition of venom by electricity' myth, until he got hit by a rattlesnake and used a car battery, jumper cables and the starter lead to shock himself. Silly twit apparently did more damage with the electricity than the venom did. LawDog __________________ "The Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer." --The 13th Warrior Bona na Croin The LawDog Files

January 17, 2001, 06:55 PM	#1
Spadone Member Join Date: July 3, 2000 Posts: 48	I just read an add for Mace's 100,000 volt stun gun. It said it was also effective on snake bites. Can anyone tell me how this works?

January 17, 2001, 07:11 PM	#2
JMH Junior Member Join Date: January 15, 2001 Location: Arizona Posts: 3	I'm, uh, stunned that this myth is still being passed around. Electric current has absolutely no effect on any type of snake venom. Period. This idea has been investigated and rejected thoroughly. By the way, I am a biologist who's written a field guide to western reptiles and amphibians, so I'm not just passing on hearsay. The best way to use electric current if you're bitten by a venomous snake is to engage the starter motor to your car and get to a hospital!

January 17, 2001, 07:27 PM	#3
Spadone Member Join Date: July 3, 2000 Posts: 48	Thanks, thought it sounded weird!

January 18, 2001, 09:17 AM	#5
JWR Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2000 Posts: 180	Bit by snake?!? You can't let one get away with that. Bite him back! Works on dogs, too. I'm still working on bears; apparently slapping it in the face is only somewhat effective...

January 18, 2001, 12:14 PM	#6
CD1 Senior Member Join Date: August 21, 2000 Posts: 320	Talk about a bad day...yeah I got bit by a cottonmouth, then my buddy shot me with the stun gun...ouch...OUCH!

January 18, 2001, 05:09 PM	#7
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	LawDog, I can sure see why using a jumper off the battery wouldn't do any good, myth or no. I don't even see how it could give much of a shock, at 12 volts...Lord knows, I've held hot leads many times--unless the guy was using the actual arc from a short, for the heat. The myth began, I believe, in South America. The idea is to use a spark plug wire from a running motor and grounded into the bite-area. The high voltage supposedly decomposes the venom into a non-toxic material. The typical story goes, "I knew this guy, and his buddy got bit by a Fer de Lance, and..." , Art

January 19, 2001, 10:31 PM	#8
slojim Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 2000 Posts: 104	Umm, Art, despite any past luck, I don't recommend licking any starter battery terminals. A car battery is definitely enough to cause damage. They are designed to have a high discharge rate, so it is not at all the same effect as, say 5 D cells in series, even though the voltage is roughly the same. No offense, and this is my field. But I still want to know how the Fer-de-Lance story turns out