"Maybe rattlesnakes out west are getting more toxic. And maybe not."

http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/?p=6476
"Maybe rattlesnakes out west are getting more toxic. And maybe not."

There has been a bit of a news flurry and, some say, blog storm in Arizona and other western states about rattlesnakes. AP’s Amanda Lee Myers reports that toxicologists say they are seeing more fatal, and near fatal, snake bites in the region lately, with five deaths in Arizona since 2002. One idea is that the venom has gotten worse.

Well, it could be, even though Myers reports that several different species of rattlesnake have been doing the biting - making it a puzzle to think each has evolved itself a more poisonous bite.

A more measured report is on NPR’s Bryant Park Project radio show this morning. Host Rachel Martin interviews a herpetologist in Phoenix who says a few bloggers and other non-experts are letting their imaginations run overtime. His diagnosis - after talking with local snake and toxicology authorities - is that deaths may be up but it’s probably a matter of human demography. More people live in rattlesnake country, and more of them are retirees new to the west who like to garden and hike, he says. Elderly people also are more susceptible to severe reaction, possibly fatal, to snakebite. Ergo it’s not the snakes that have changed.

Speaking of desert reptiles and radio reports: In Australia, the ABC’s science writer Robyn Williams has an entertaining interview with a local specialist on lizards that live in deserts around the world. Best part is, after she describes capture of lizards with dental floss in a way “that doesn’t hurt the lizard,” and bringing them back to Australia, Robyn remarks mildly: “So presumably at some stage in the process they die.” Well yes, unfortunately, she says, but that’s the museum biz for you.

-CP

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 11:51 am and is filed under Health & Medicine Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.