17/08/2026
‼️ Important Information ‼️
Some days the amount of people who post misinformation and just flat out ridiculous nonsense on social media when it comes to wildlife is really troublesome, particularly when it has to do with potentially dangerous scenarios.
As a wildlife education facility, we regularly have people with absolutely no formal training, education, professional experience, or even a basic sophomoric understanding of science argue with us about how old wives tales, incorrect information, and ancient myths that have been scientifically debunked decades ago are in fact factually true and that we are the uneducated ones.
The problem with uneducated people who believe that they know better than experts is that these people are often giving out really, really bad advice that can easily lead to catastrophic outcomes. The most frequent example we see when it comes to dangerous misinformation is with venomous snakes. If we had a dollar for everytime we have been tagged on a photo of a snake that someone’s asking to be identified and the comment section is filled with dozens of comments from people confidently and incorrectly identifying that animal, our truck would be paid for. The fact is, most people have absolutely no idea what they are looking at when it comes to wildlife but that often doesn’t stop those them from making a very, very uneducated guess and presenting it as if they know for certain that they are right.
They aren’t.
Please don’t trust a random person off social media with identifying an animal and whether that animal has the capability to kill you or your pet with one bite. We promise you that most people have no consistent ability to accurately identify a snake species with one zoomed in blurry photo and you don’t want to bet your life on Terry from HS and whether he can tell the difference between a banded water snake and a cottonmouth.
Here are some things that could save you or a pet’s life and some information that everyone should know about venomous snakes and venomous snake bites:
🐍 If you or your pet gets bitten, do not put a tourniquet on the affected limb. Tourniquets cut off blood flow completely, which causes severe tissue death, increases local damage from the venom, and can lead to the loss of a limb.
🐍 Do not cut the wound and/or try to “suck out the poison.” This does not remove venom, but it can introduce dangerous bacteria and may spread toxins. Snake bite kits are a waste of money and can often make things worse.
🐍Elevate the effect area/limb and remove any tight clothing, rings, watches, or dog collars/harnesses near the bite before the swelling occurs.
🐍Do not apply ice, ice packs, or cold water to the bite area. This will not help the swelling and can damage the tissue.
🐍 Do not take any medications, including pain medications and antihistamines. Snake venom is not a histamine, so antihistamines will have zero effect on the swelling from a snake bite. Pain medications can cause bleeding and the thinning of the blood. Taking medications provides a dangerous false sense of security, wastes precious time, and delays the only effective medical treatment, which is professional hospital/veterinary care and antivenin.
🐍 Immediately seek medical intervention is the best course of action for a snake bite.
🐍 Do not try to catch or kill the snake to take with you to the hospital/vet clinic so that the staff can identify the species. This is not necessary as in the US the standard antivenin used is effective for a broad range of pit viper species, meaning exact species level identification is not required to administer proper treatment.
🐍 Not every hospital or veterinary clinic has antivenin. Before you spend precious time driving to a hospital or vet clinic with a snake envenomation, call first to see if they have antivenin there. If they don’t and you have other close options, try to go to the facility that does have antivenin.
🐍 Most medical physicians and veterinarians have never treated a venomous snake bite before, even those who work in the emergency department. Not every medical and veterinary professional knows the proper treatment protocols for venomous snake bites.
🐍 Join the National Snakebite Support Facebook group. This group is run by specialists in the medical, veterinary, and toxicology fields and is a great educational resource. They also will offer assistance for those who have been bitten or who have a pet that was bitten by a venomous snake. These experts can also directly work with medical and veterinary teams across the country to ensure that proper treatment protocols for venomous bites are being administered.
🐍 Know the proper treatment for a snake bite so that you can better advocate for yourself, your loved one, or your pet. Generally the standard treatment protocol for a venomous snake bite are antivenin, IV fluids, and pain medications. Initial treatment usually should not include antihistamines, steroids, antibiotics, or NSAIDs, as these medication can either be ineffective and/or can be counterproductive.
🐍If you live in a high risk area for venomous snakes consider doing avoidance training with your dog. This training will teach your dogs to steer clear of snakes and will greatly lessen the chances of your dog being bitten by a venomous snake.
🐍 Just leave snakes alone. A lot of people are bitten by venomous snakes while attempting to handle or kill the snake. If you just leave snakes alone and allow them to just go about their day, being mother nature’s pest control, you’ll have a really uneventful day that won’t end up resulting in a $400,000 hospital bill.
