1 57 Wildlif e K ee p y ou r f oo d care fu lly st o red t o a v o id mice inf e statio ns Snak e s f e e d o n mice and will f o llo w the m int o cam ps K ee p a co nta ine r garbage can wi th lid and a long blu nt hoo k e d stick a v ailable t o u se t o co nfne a snak e and the n re lo cat e it If w o r k ing whe re rattle snak e s are commo n and only in an e n vir o nme nt whe re it w o u ld tak e mo re than tw o hou r s t o tr a v e l t o a me dical f acility y ou ma y w ant t o co nsid e r carr ying a com me r cial snak ebit e Extract or kit These kits e xtract a maximu m o f 30 of the v e nom and ha v e an im po r tant calming e f f e ct o n the patie nt R e se ar ch the hospitals in the are a that ha v e antiv e no m in st o ck and can tre at snak e bit e Snak e bit e victims mu st be tak e n t o a place whe re tre atme nt is a v ailable No t all hospitals ma y be wide ly st ock e d T reatment of a Snak ebit e Bit es fr o m BC snak es are no t usually f atal but rattlesnak e v enom is necr o tic and can cause se v ere tissue damage that ma y result in paralysis or am putation As v enom is transpor t ed in the lym phatic syst em e v er y att em pt should be made t o cut do wn the rat e of lym phatic fo w There is no reason t o kill the snak e f or identifcation as there are no o ther v enomous snak es in BC If y ou or y our cow or k er e xperiences a snak e bit e W ash the w ound immediat ely with soap and w at er t o decrease tissue damage and co v er with a st erile dressing R emo v e an y constricting je w elr y Sta y calm q uie t and reassuring Immob ilize the injured area b y wrapping a pressure bandage ar ound the limb gently as if wrapping f or a sprain This will restrict the fo w of v enom thr ough the lym phatic syst em K eep the limb or injured area belo w the le v el of the hear t if possible The pa tient must be transpor t ed t o medical att ention as soon as possible in a horizontal position If it is necessar y t o w alk do so slo wly and rest freq uently Do y our best t o ge t t o a medical f acility as this is the best fr st aid f or snak ebit es