Woman dies from being bitten by Mojave Green

Yep that's pretty sad and a painful way to die. We have our share of them around here.

Heard more than a couple storys about how aggresive they can be..
 
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For all you desert hunters, beware of these critters, as they are very, very nasty. Watch where you step and drop your butt under a bush, as wouldnt wish this on anyone.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1009gl-snake1009-ON.html



When I was the resident Telco Engineer in Pahrump (NV); when out taking my measurements, I really had to keep an eye out, not only for the Mojave's but also Sidewinders. Never saw a Green, but did run across the Sidewinders, who arent agressive like the Green is, and would take off. Never mind though, I dont like snakes..
 
I read the article, I didn't see anything about it saying it was a mojave green, they said a mojave rattler.
The way I understand it, a mojave green has both hemo and neuro toxin, making it one of a kind and one bad dude.

I'm sure I have killed a few in the southern California deserts over the years, they are hard to identfy from a regular mojave rattler. I forget how it's done, it has something to do with counting scales or something like that.
If NASA reads this, he can get it right I'm sure....HELP
 
My brother-in-law is a veterinarian in Palm Springs. A number of years ago he got a call from a guy who was running his hounds in the desert where they ran into a Mojave Green. All three dogs were bitten in the nose by the same snake. The first died before the owner could get the dogs into his truck. The second died about 20 or 30 minutes later while the man was calling my brother-in-law from a pay phone. (This was before cell phones were in general use.) The third died just after they got to the clinic. Three successive bites and three dead dogs. Certainly more that enough to kill a person. From what I've heard, the Mojave's are rather aggressive as well. The venom from a Mojave is said to be anywhere from 10 to 16 times as potent as compared to a Sidewinder. Like BillyTheKidd said, the dual venom affects the nervous system as well as blood and flesh.

I've caught and skinned a number of Prairie Rattlesnakes up here in eastern Washington state. Not very aggressive and most didn't give up much venom when milked on a stick. Their venom is toxic, but nowhere near as powerful as that of a Mojave or a Western Diamond back. A good friend of mine got bit on the hand a few years back when he was climbing on some rocks in central WA. He got to the emergency room within an hour and got a shot of antivenin. He still ended up pretty sick, with a lot of swelling in his arm. He said it was the worst thing that he had ever experienced.

I worry about sitting down on one, especially after dark when the temperature drops. Usually we only run into them in close proximity to rock slides and outcroppings. Take Care!!!
 
Yes the Mohave Green is a very toxic snake. You have to get to an ER almost immediatly. If bitten be a sidewinder you have a little more time and you probably wont get as sick. Stay away from the greens......
 
To the best of my knowledge Mohave Green is just another name for Mohave Rattlesnake (crotalus scutulatus). I've run into a boat load of them (especially this year) at work and more often than not they aren't the green type in my area. The easiest/safest way to identify them from my experience is the tail bands. A standard issue western diamondback has alternating black and white stripes on it's tail that are roughly the same width. On a Mohave the dark bands are much thinner. If I remember correctly the Mohave also only has two large scales on the top of its head versus many small scales on a diamondback. To my notion the shape of the head and neck seem different on the two snakes as well. A Mohaves's head seems more angular looking. Another sure way to tell is that a Mohave would never lose to the Colorado Rockies.

I spend a lot of time in the desert at work and for some reason I have more problems with aggresive sidewinders and diamondbacks than Mohaves. I've had several of those types actually come after me. Most of the Mohaves I've run into won't back down but they won't actually move towards you either. Last Tuesday I almost stepped on a Mohave. By almost I don't mean that it rattled and startled me before I stepped on it. I left a footprint less than two inches from where the snake was coiled. He never rattled and actually had his head tucked underneath him hoping not to be noticed. I was looking out in front of me instead of at my feet while going through a small brush line and didn't know anything was up until my partner that was walking behind me let out a gasp and an explitive. That was a little spooky thinking about how many times I've probably done the same thing and no one was there to notice.

Here's a good site for info on Mohave's and other snakes in Arizona. http://www.reptilesofaz.com/Snakes-Subpages/h-c-scutulatus.html

Nate
 
Killed one last year while out pd'ing. They are green. Not like grass, but a light green tint to their bodies. Was opening a gate and it was streached out straight with its head in a tumbleweed. Lucky me. Thought I was a gonner
 
Funny thing about this is that in all my years that I have spent in Southwest while in the USMC I have only ever seen one rattlesnake and that was a Pacific and he tasted pretty good. Other than some Sidewinders, we just haven't been lucky enough to run into them and god knows I spend enough time in the desert.
 
soreloser, the mojave greens tend to live out in the flat lands of the desert.
Those dark coloed Pacific rattlers that live up in the hills and mountains can get big and yes they are tasty, for a rattlesnake.
 
October is a BAD month to be hunting in the desert. Cold nights and warm days make the snakes active during the day. I stopped quail hunting in October for this reason. So...if you must hunt in October in the desert wear snake chaps.
 
Even though I just bought the $130 turtleskins, my experience has been the same as Soreloser. I grew up in Ridgecrest, CA in the high desert. I hunt coyote, quail, chukar in the deserts. I have never seen a rattlesnake in the desert while I was on foot.

They still scare the daylights out of me though...
 
I am not ordinarily overly concerned about snakes, but where I've been scouting and hunting lately, I'm hyper aware of my surroundings, and check every step and hand placement before hand. I've either been on my own or with my 14 year old lately, about 20 straight miles, or 45 drive miles and 2 hours to the nearest civilization. No cell phone reception either. If I get bit out there, it's likely all over. And I've seen 2 rattlers out there the past couple months.

Again, I typically don't get too wound up about snakes, but they scare teh bejusus out of me out there, that far from assistance.
 
My Dad used to always tell me, "Don't put your foot or hand anywhere your eyes have not been first".

Where I hunt, I would be dead too before I could get help. Mojave Greens attack your central nervous system and are a hemotoxin.
 
it's believed that now mohave and diamondbacks can interbreed and creat a hybrid that may look like one or the other, and have both toxins present. They are starting studies in the area to determine how much they interbreed, and the toxicity of the venom of the hybrids.
 
I have seen a pretty fair number of them in the years I've spent here in the SW.

Both Mojave green's and regular rattlers, and the mountain diamondback as well. Let me tell you it's not good on your heart when you see him within strike distance.

I will not fess up to anything cause the "green" is protected in these parts.

Just be careful around them cause they are usually more aggressive than most rattlers. My experiewnce has been they are in dead grass areas more often than anywhere else.
 
This may need a little translation /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

• If you are in the wild, stay clear of the snake and leave it alone.
If you see a rattler outside of a zoo...kill it.

• Don't attempt to capture or kill it.
See above.

• If a rattlesnake is found in your yard, keep pets and children away from it.
See above.

• Contact authorities to remove or dispatch it.
See above.


It's always worked for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Obviously when hunting a bullit does the job just fine, but they are pretty easy to kill in any case.
 
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