Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthaus Hetzenauer
I did a pretty stupid thing with a coral snake about three years ago.
Getting into my car to go to work one morning, I saw one a little over 2' long lying at the edge of the driveway near the lawn. Now I've got a kind of Steve Irwin death wish when it comes to potentially dangerous animals (I love to fuck with 'em; gets the old adrenaline going and gives me a rush of sorts), so I took it into my empty head to sneak up behind the damn thing and grab it just behind the head; figured if I was fast enough, and caught him in just the right spot, I wouldn't get bit (besides, they're not lightning quick in their strikes as are rattlers and moccasins). I made my move, but in a nanosecond so did the snake. Instead of catching him just behind the head, I caught him about an inch or so further down. Lucky for me for some reason he decided not to bite (though he enough room to turn his head and do just that) and I let go immediately. That was too close for comfort; it was also the last time I attempted to pull such a stupid stunt.
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That was a dumb fucking thing to do. You wouldn't get away with that with a rattler. Corals snakes are fairly mild, and they have to pretty much chew away a little bit to get their venom in you; the big snakes just jab you like a crazed junkie. But coral snake venom is a different type of venom, and more powerful.
Tell the truth, you could probably just pick the coral snake up. They're not super excitable. That's still a very bad idea. But when you grab at any snake, it's going to freak, thinking you're a bird going to eat it. These are not things to play with, go look at some shots of people who DIDN'T die from venom - they often still have fucked up appendages. That stuff is digestion stage 1. It's like melting your arm with a flame. You may not burn to death, but your skin and flesh isn't going back to normal ever again.