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LOGAN -- Say the word "snake" to someone, and there's a good chance they'll cringe. This summer, doctors at a Utah hospital are treating more snakebite victims than ever before.
Officials at Logan Regional Hospital report they've seen six snakebite victims this year, including two within the past week.
- Avoid areas where snakes may be hiding, such as under rocks and logs.
- Avoid picking up or playing with any snake unless you have been properly trained.
- If you hike often, consider buying a snake bite kit.
- Don't provoke a snake.
- Tap ahead of you with a walking stick before entering an area where you can't see your feet.
- When hiking in an area known to have snakes, wear long pants and boots.
Alex Meekins was one of those victims. He saw a rattlesnake while working on his rowing merit badge.
"I saw a snake under the boat," he said. "I thought it was dead because it looked squished, so I reached out to touch it, and it bit me."
The baby rattlesnake only nicked Meekins' fingers and hand, but it was enough to cause some serious damage.
"My hand was swollen up to a baseball glove," he said.
Meekins' father rushed him to Logan Regional Hospital, where normally doctors only see one or two snakebite victims in an entire year. Compare that to the six cases in 2011, and you've got a significant increase.
"That's more than I ever remember coming through," said Dr. Brett Porter.
Just being extra vigilant about where you put your hand, where you're sitting down, what you're doing in terms of exposing yourself.
–Dr. Brett Porter
Two of the bites happened when victims tried to touch or capture the snakes. The others happened when victims were walking through bushes or climbing rocks and encountered the snakes.
Porter isn't sure why there are more snakebite victims this year, but says he thinks it could have something to do with the unusually wet spring where growing vegetation is keeping the snakes better hidden from their natural predators.
He says it's important to be on the lookout.
"Just being extra vigilant about where you put your hand, where you're sitting down, what you're doing in terms of exposing yourself," Porter said.
James Dix runs Reptile Rescue Service and says he's getting more calls than ever, too. His biggest message: do not touch a snake, especially baby rattlesnakes, because unlike adult rattlesnakes, they can't control their venom. That makes them even more dangerous.
If you see one, adult or baby, Dix says just get away.
"A minimum of three to four feet away, and then back up slowly," he said. "Make sure you look behind you, so that you don't step on another rattlesnake because sometimes there is more than one."
It's a lesson Meekins learned the hard way. He's just happy his hand is getting back to normal.
"I didn't think it would ever go down, but it did," Meekins said.
Email:acabrero@ksl.com
