8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

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Daryl Eby
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8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Daryl Eby »

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Snakeb ... 08.html?dr
A Texas state trooper on Monday captured a rattlesnake at an Eastland elementary school -- four days after it bit a second-grader.

The boy, 8-year-old Edwin Garcia, was released from a Fort Worth hospital on Saturday and is now at home recovering.

Garcia said he was reaching in a cabinet for a towel when the venomous snake appeared out of nowhere and attacked his right hand.

"It bit me," he said. "It went 'tssss' with its tail."

The school, Siebert Elementary, was closed while police, animal experts and volunteers searched for the reptile.

The school won't reopen until after the Thanksgiving holiday. Students are attending classes at a nearby church.

Cpl. Tim Pitts of the Texas Highway Patrol said finding the snake was difficult.

"He was down underneath the floor of the cabinet, so there would've been no way to find him without ripping the cabinet up," he said. "We wanted to make sure it was there, that we could find it and get it out of there. If it wasn't there, we'd have done a thorough search to set everybody's mind at ease."

Edwin's mother, Karla Garcia, said administrators knew for weeks there was a snake problem at the school.

"They should have done something from the very beginning," she said. "I myself said something when I first found out that they were finding snakes. I said, 'Oh my God, what if somebody gets bit? A child?' And here it goes -- mine. Mine was the one who got bit."

Principal Mary Jones said administrators don't believe there are any more snakes in the school.

"We absolutely don't expect to find anything else, and we hope that we don't," she said. "We think this is an isolated incident."

Assistant Superintendent Rebecca Hallmark said the school is surrounded by woods. She speculated that this year's drought could have pushed snakes into the school to search for food.

"We never had them in the building [before]," she said. "The elementary school has a lot of natural habitat around."

Edwin's arm is in a sling at least until a follow-up doctor's visit next week.

His mother said he is doing well, but she is keeping out of school because he is too afraid another snake will attack him.

"They're bad," he said. "They'll kill you."
erik loza
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by erik loza »

Was the child actually envenomated? Sorry if I missed that.
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Daryl Eby
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Daryl Eby »

erik loza wrote:Was the child actually envenomated? Sorry if I missed that.
Based on the photos and comment in the video about "swelling" there was at least a mild envenomation. However, no tissue damage or necrosis is visible in the video.

Just found a link to an earlier story on this same bite: http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Snake- ... 30053.html
That story describes the bite as "life threatening", but I'm guessing that's just typical press exaggeration.

OOPS: Just noticed this is in the main forum. Meant to post it in "News". Sorry about that.
gretzkyrh4
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by gretzkyrh4 »

Heard about that while I was in DFW last weekend. Scary situation. Some of the earlier articles note that this isn't the first time this school year that snakes have been found in or around the building. Hope they figure out how they're getting in before this happens again.

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Retes
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Retes »

Of course I don't like anyone getting bit by a venomous snake, but, what are they thinking, with woods around the school?

Theres so sorta of thought process that folks get like, there can't be snakes in a school, yet the put schools in woods and in deserts etc.

In my neigborhood, there are several schools and hundreds of ratttlesnakes of five species, but mostly just atrox and scuts. Plus coralsnakes. Oh and gilas, oh and dogs The dogs are the worst. At least the dogs chase me. All the other stuff goes the other way.

I guess I cannot believe the local folks around that school think that snakes are restricted to "woods".
ugh

Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by ugh »

This calls for a Texas sized roundup! :beer:
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Bob
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Bob »

Retes wrote:Of course I don't like anyone getting bit by a venomous snake, but, what are they thinking, with woods around the school?

Theres so sorta of thought process that folks get like, there can't be snakes in a school, yet the put schools in woods and in deserts etc.

In my neigborhood, there are several schools and hundreds of ratttlesnakes of five species, but mostly just atrox and scuts. Plus coralsnakes. Oh and gilas, oh and dogs The dogs are the worst. At least the dogs chase me. All the other stuff goes the other way.

I guess I cannot believe the local folks around that school think that snakes are restricted to "woods".

Seems to me schools need to be where they need to be, especially rural schools. Hell, we still have one room schools in the sage brush out here....and a snake of any sort getting into a school or any modern occupied building is unheard of. Shit happens I guess. Glad the kid is OK.
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Daryl Eby
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Daryl Eby »

ugh wrote:This calls for a Texas sized roundup! :beer:
That's what I'm afraid of.
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reptilist
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by reptilist »

Perhaps an education is in order?
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monklet
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by monklet »

Interesting that it says the trooper captured the snake ...nothing about killing it. Seems curiously and hopefully out of character very generally speaking. Maybe he is among the more enlightened of common folk in regards to wildlife etc.

Of course the podunk reporter had to finish up with that stupid quote. Perfectly expected.
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Daryl Eby
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Daryl Eby »

monklet wrote:Interesting that it says the trooper captured the snake ...nothing about killing it. Seems curiously and hopefully out of character very generally speaking. Maybe he is among the more enlightened of common folk in regards to wildlife etc.
Your hopefulness is well placed. The video that accompanies the story shows the trooper with the snake (a YOY WDB) in a Tupperware container. It is very much alive and seemingly uninjured. No word on what was later done with the snake.
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Hans Breuer (twoton)
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Hans Breuer (twoton) »

"Thar bayud. Thay'll keeyul yuh."

Sigh....
Paul White
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Re: 8yo boy bitten by Rattlesnake at school

Post by Paul White »

Retes, about school's location...it's Texas. Rattlers turn up in the damndest places. I've found them in urban parks here, though those have always been viridis not atrox. There's always something dangerous--in the inner city it'd be gangs and crime, in rural schools it's rattlers/coyotes/feral dogs/drugs.

As far as what to do with the snake...eh. Relocation is a death sentence, but you can't leave them where they are either. If there's a place to take them--a research institute or zoo or something--cool. If not...I don't know.
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