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General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Krusher on September 30, 2003, 10:51:57 PM

Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Krusher on September 30, 2003, 10:51:57 PM
BROWNWOOD, Texas -- Police say a man was bitten by a rattlesnake while shopping for shoes in a Wal-Mart store in Texas.

Douglas Hatchett of Brownwood was examining shoes on a rack when a rattlesnake concealed behind a shoebox bit him yesterday. The snake fell to the floor, where Hatchett stomped it to death.

Police, fire and emergency medical crews were called to the scene.

The 31-year-old shopper and the dead snake were hustled to Brownwood Regional Medical Center. There, the snake was confirmed as a rattler, and Hatchett was treated and released.

Wal-Mart officials say the matter's being investigated and they have no comment.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sixpence on September 30, 2003, 10:54:43 PM
Hey, better a rattlesnake than a black widow(yes, I have been bit by a black widow)
Title: Re: Only in Texas
Post by: JB73 on September 30, 2003, 11:08:51 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Krusher
...The snake fell to the floor, where Hatchett stomped it to death...
what surprises me is that most people jump away in reaction to an attack from a wild animal. he musta been really pissed lol.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: -Concho- on September 30, 2003, 11:25:46 PM
thats going to be one rich dude
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Arlo on September 30, 2003, 11:32:27 PM
Unless the store camera shows him putting the snake there himself. Not saying that happened but .... it could happen.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sandman on October 01, 2003, 12:44:11 AM
Rather doubt the "only in Texas" part.

We've got rattlers here in California as well. :)
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: capt. apathy on October 01, 2003, 01:00:15 AM
do ya keep them in Wal-mart?
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Twist on October 01, 2003, 03:48:50 AM
"Cleanup!! Aisle 5!"
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: beet1e on October 01, 2003, 04:29:31 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Sixpence
Hey, better a rattlesnake than a black widow(yes, I have been bit by a black widow)
What was that like? Were you very ill? How long to recover?
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Twist on October 01, 2003, 04:37:45 AM
I had a Brown Recluse tag me once, the hole in my arm took forever to go away.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sandman on October 01, 2003, 09:41:11 AM
Quote
Originally posted by capt. apathy
do ya keep them in Wal-mart?



In any desert environment, you can expect the local fauna to find its way inside.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sandman on October 01, 2003, 09:42:18 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Sixpence
Hey, better a rattlesnake than a black widow(yes, I have been bit by a black widow)



If you're talking Sidewinder, I'll agree. If you're talking about Mojave Rattlers, I'd rather have the spider bite.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Drifter1234 on October 01, 2003, 10:00:59 AM
Came home from a overnighter in New Orleans.  Went out on by back porch and noticed a snake was up in the rafters of the ceiling.  answered the question to where all my geckos had gone.  My first response was there is a sweet rattlesnake on my porch.  Went running next door to get my Biologist neighbor (who mangages wetlands and wears snake-boots to work).  

He came over and his first comment was  "you stupid moron that is not a rattlesnake because rattlesnakes can't climb"  Like everyone is suppose to know that.  It had similiar markings to a rattler though.

With that being said.  The walmart rattler fell to the floor meaning it most likely had to be placed there.


My observation based on my embarassing snake lesson.


Drftr
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Rude on October 01, 2003, 10:09:08 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Sandman_SBM
Rather doubt the "only in Texas" part.

We've got rattlers here in California as well. :)


While that may be true, the reaction of a Texan vs. a Californian is a whole different matter....a Californian would run away from the snake like a schoolgirl, only to pass out a few isles later...cept Lazs...he'd pull out a firearm and shoot the thing John Wayne style:)
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sandman on October 01, 2003, 10:11:19 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Rude
While that may be true, the reaction of a Texan vs. a Californian is a whole different matter....a Californian would run away from the snake like a schoolgirl, only to pass out a few isles later...cept Lazs...he'd pull out a firearm and shoot the thing John Wayne style:)



This little girl has the skin of a Mojave Rattler in (her) desk drawer. That thing was as green as a garden hose when I took its life (with a rock). :p
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: beet1e on October 01, 2003, 10:43:08 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Rude
While that may be true, the reaction of a Texan vs. a Californian is a whole different matter....a Californian would run away from the snake like a schoolgirl
Most snakes will leave you alone if you let them alone. They're looking for small prey, and are not interested in anything human sized. They might attack if they feel cornered, but most will go away. One exception is the African black mamba, which will give chase...

US snakes are quite mild, compared to those of Africa, and Australia. :eek:
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sixpence on October 01, 2003, 11:01:05 AM
Quote
Originally posted by beet1e
What was that like? Were you very ill? How long to recover?


I was in ICU for 14 hours. The venom from a black widow is a neurotoxin, it attacks your central nervous system and shuts it down. There is no communication in the body, there is no signal to any part of the body, your heart stops along with everything else. There is no antidote(back in 93 anyway), it's not like a snake bite where they use the venom as a cure.

I was being shot up with calcium, valume, and some other things. they wanted to give me  morphine but declined( I did not want to stay there overnight, and I knew morphine would secure that). I faded out twice( the last thing I heard was the flatline). After several hours my condition got better. I was still in alot of pain, but told them the pain was going away( so they would let me go home). After about 14 hours they agreed to let me go. They told me my back ( where the two bites occured) would peel real bad and that it would be normal. It killed a few layers of skin on my back. They wrote me out a prescription for valume and sent me home.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: beet1e on October 01, 2003, 11:11:52 AM
Wow, Sixpence. Beats my scorpion story. I was at a campsite in TX. There was no electricity to the washrooms, and it was dark. I stepped up to a hand basin, and was about to remove what I thought was a leaf in the basin, when a guy came in with a huge lantern and lit the place up like a football stadium. I said hi, and when I turned back to the basin I could see that the "leaf" was actually a scorpion. But not a really bad one - one of those sandy coloured things about 3 inches long. Probably would have been a bad sting though.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Airscrew on October 01, 2003, 01:16:34 PM
Beet1e,  been stung a few times by scorpions here, 2-4 inches long, brown, dark brown strip down the back.  Stings is comparable to bee or hornet sting.  Only really dangerous if your allergic.  (Not saying I would intentionally let one of those little buggers sting me though)

Between May and Oct I find alot of scorpions around the house and inside.  One week we killed 11 in the house.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Krusher on October 01, 2003, 01:24:36 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Sandman_SBM
In any desert environment, you can expect the local fauna to find its way inside.


Brownwood isnt in a desert enviroment although it is in the middle of nowhere :)
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: gofaster on October 01, 2003, 01:27:43 PM
Last year I was at a July 4th race by the Suwanee River and went inside a port-o-john to do some last-minute bowel emptying.  Just about the time I got my pants down around my ankles and was squatting on the plastic donut, I looked down and saw a tan scorpion crawling by my shoe.  I killed it and didn't think twice about it.

Until I saw this thread.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Westy on October 01, 2003, 01:33:08 PM
Ohhhhh Voss?    Where's old Voss.

 He can top you all!  ;)



 "US snakes are quite mild, compared to those of Africa, and Australia."

 Course they are Beetl1. US snakes have lived in a democracy and have endured civilisation for over two hundred years. There's little need for them "pounce," "stalk" and generally terrorize civilizians as they did in the old frontier days.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: rpm on October 01, 2003, 01:36:17 PM
MOST scorpions found in Texas are non-lethal, but hurt like hell. I was sitting in my chair watching TV once and felt a little tickle near my family jewels. When I scratched the tickle turned to HOLY MOTHER OF GOD! A scorpion had crawled up my pants leg.:eek: The little bastage stung me over a dozen times on my inner thigh while I was jumping around the living room like a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader at the Super Bowl and trying desperately to remove my pants.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: cracker4head on October 01, 2003, 03:17:54 PM
Hey MajTom,
Thats 1 heck-uva fishing hole Ya'll have down there in cedar creek.
You ever get to catch the sandies when they run or the BIG blues?Cought over 200 sandys last year & the year B-4.
Caught some big blues at lake palestine to.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: midnight Target on October 01, 2003, 04:02:20 PM
Quote
Originally posted by capt. apathy
do ya keep them in Wal-mart?


-snif- WalMart is for peasant Texas Rattlers. Ours hang out at Spago's.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: AKIron on October 01, 2003, 05:03:13 PM
Was camping in Arkansas a few years ago. Woke up with a welt on the back of my thigh. Felt kinda sick for a day and the welt got huge. Think it took the better part of a year to fully heal and left a nasty scar. Musta been a Brown Recluse.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Mini D on October 01, 2003, 05:14:41 PM
Hmmm... I've never heard of a brown recluse leaving a welt.  Their bites are supposed to cause a flesh deadning reaction.  I've only known one person that was bitten by one... he ended up loosing half the meat off of his left palm (wouldn't let docs amputate his pinky and next finger over).

I've known several people that were bitten by black widows.  We had quite a few of them at our base in Idaho.  They were kinda like a bee sting... for some people there was a welt and nothing more, but for others there was more of an alergic reaction.  The chances of having an alergic reaction to a BW bite is a little higher than being alergic to bee stings.

Don't know much about sidewinder bites, but I've heard the same thing.  Most fatalities involve an alergic type reaction or multiple bites.

All I know about scorpion bites is that they can end a lucrative career flying F-16s for the CIA and cause brain cancer.

MiniD
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: AHGOD on October 01, 2003, 05:18:04 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Westy
Ohhhhh Voss?    Where's old Voss.

 He can top you all!  ;)



 "US snakes are quite mild, compared to those of Africa, and Australia."

 Course they are Beetl1. US snakes have lived in a democracy and have endured civilisation for over two hundred years. There's little need for them "pounce," "stalk" and generally terrorize civilizians as they did in the old frontier days.


This one time at band camp.......
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Sixpence on October 01, 2003, 05:26:50 PM
Mini, I don't know the size of the ones in Idaho, but the one in Jax, Fl. almost had me pushing daisies(it had the body of a good size bumble bee). And I didn't have an allergic reaction. I'll never live again where the insects can kill you.
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: AKIron on October 01, 2003, 05:47:33 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Mini D
Hmmm... I've never heard of a brown recluse leaving a welt.  MiniD


Never saw it but based on this I think it was.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2061.html

"A small white blister usually rises at the bite site surrounded by a large congested and swollen area."
Title: Only in Texas
Post by: Estes on October 01, 2003, 05:48:43 PM
About 2 years ago, my wife and I where in bed, it was probably around 3 in the morning when she woke up to a sting like feeling on her thigh, after going to the bathroom to see what it was she found a small welp bruised looking area. We didn't think much about it, maybe a mosquito bite that got irritated. Well, after 3-4 days it started to swell pretty bad after going to the doctor we learned that she was bitten by a brown recluse. Luckily, nothing more than a swollen sore area that didn't leave for a long time. She has been bitten 2 times since then, seems like she has built up some sort of immunity, because she doesn't get anything when something bites her anymore.  She has more bad luck with spiders than I have with anything.
Title: UPDATE
Post by: Krusher on October 03, 2003, 03:08:24 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Arlo
Unless the store camera shows him putting the snake there himself. Not saying that happened but .... it could happen.


looks like he may have been trying to pull a scam


October 3, 2003 Updated at 1:37PM CDT
Hospital Says Wal-Mart Shopper Didn't Suffer Snake Bite

More questions surround a man from the Brownwood, Texas area who claimed he was bitten by a rattlesnake in a local Wal-Mart.

Douglas Hatchett of Bangs had reported being bitten Monday by a rattlesnake hidden in a shoe rack at the Brownwood department store. Wal-Mart officials have expressed skepticism.

KBWD-AM and KOXE-FM in Brownwood report Brownwood Regional Medical Center doctors told police Douglas Hatchett had not been bitten by a rattler when they examined him Monday.

Brownwood Police Chief Virgil Corwin referred questions to Brown County prosecutor Michael Murray, who said he had no report on the case. Neither Hatchett nor hospital officials have returned phone calls from The Associated Press.