Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Black Mamba Question.

if someone can explain to me it works like that and provide me peer reviewed documentation saying such i'll start buying it, till then im skeptical as hell but aint above giving it a try if my life is on the line

Rattler,

It was all a long time ago but if I remember correctly, the current breaks the chains of protein up into much smaller pieces and therefore stops the effect of the venom rather than destroys it.......... I could well be wrong on that but that's what I seem to remember and if it's right, it would probably explain why it doesn't affect the flesh.

Could also be the fact that the venom is a liquid (albeit a thick one) and consequently is affected differently..... after all, body tissue isn't usually greatly affected by electric shock.

i agree those are quite possible....just would think such a thing would be easy to test cause you can just pass the current through a test tube of venom itself as see if it degrades it via standard LD50 tests with mice using un-shocked venom from the same snake as a baseline.....would think atleast one person has tried it and had there been positive results published the findings....

FWIW, there was an in depth article in Outdoor Life a number of years ago about this. It has been ten or twelve years ago, and I am doing this from memory, so bear with me.

IIRC, the technique was developed by some missionaries in the Amazon. They would use the spark plug lead from the old single cylinder outboard motors and vehicles that were equipped with points, coils and condensers. These engines developed about 40,000 volts, and this seemed to disrupt the venom in some way. The article advised against using the newer capacator discharge equipped engines that often put out 100,000 volts, as this level of voltage could cause additional trauma, and they said cardiac arrest was a possibility.

There was quite a lengthy medical discussion as to the whys and wherefores as to the effectiveness of using shock for snakebite for a couple of consecutive issues in Outdoor Life. A couple of veternarians weighed in and said that they had used it with success on dogs. The human medical community was reluctant to endorse it because it was at variance with accepted medical practice as regards to treatment for snakebite.

Be that as it may, some company began to manufacture a mini-taser like device to apply shock to snakebite, and it got some traction in the marketplace, although I haven't heard about the device in a number of years.

A friend of mine in Arkansas had a good hound that was bitten on the jaw by a water moccasin during this time frame. Being of a rural mind set, he decided to hook the dog up to the spark plug wire of his lawn mower in lieu of taking the dog to the vet. The dog was fully recovered in three days.

Based on the performance of my friend's dog in the matter, I will say that if I am out and get nailed by a serious snake, I definitely want to raise the hood on the vehicle and take a jolt of electricity on the bite, even if it is a CDI ignition--provided there is no anti-venin available. At that point you have nothing to lose.

As an active ER MD in rural Texas I care for multiple snakebites yearly. The current treatment guidelines recommend no cutting, no sucking, no electroshock, and no tight torniquets. You need to remain as calm as possible and proceed to the nearest ED for assessment. Not all bites envenomate and the degree of envenomation varies from bite to bite. The ER doc will assess your bite and symptoms then administer Crofab if indicated. The most important information is positive identification of the snake if feasible.

doclee,

I appreciate Texas is a huge state but would guess you're never a hell of a distance from a good hospital, esp with the fact that you can pick up a phone and whistle up a chopper in short order, or get onto a good tar road within a few miles.

Probably wouldn't work work quite so well in some parts of Africa where the nearest clinic, let alone a hospital or doctor might easily be a 12 hour drive away.

For example, the Bugando Hospital in Mwanza Tanzania is the only hospital for about 400 miles in any direction and even that often has no electricity, drugs and almost certainly no antivenom.

Pretty much all the doctors are from overseas and usually only there for a few weeks at a time.

i fully agree with your assessment......and if i get bit by a rattler here that is exactly my plan....most of this discussion however has been centered around what in the hell are yah going to do out in the bush when bitten by a very deadly species and your much farther away from a hospital and capable doctor than its gonna take the venom to kill yah such as with a mamba where the venom kills within an hour 9 times out of 10.....in such a case i say shock the hell out of me....if it dont work aint like im likely to live anyway....

Shakari you are correct. African logistics are definately more difficult.In some Texas areas access can be 3-4 hours by vehicle especially down in the big bend. I understand well the logistics of Africa having hunted in Zambia and Tanzania and visited some clinics. Antivenom would likely not be available in the majority of clinics/hospitals except at the majors.This does not change the current guidelines/ recommendations for treatment and all the more reason to have medivac insurance.
My daddy's prevention guidelines are probably more germane..."Watch for snakes, watch where you put your feet,don't put your hands into holes, if an area looks snakey it probably is"

I was impressed at how fast and aggressive the mamba are... I recieved a large knot on my forehead when the cruiser came to an abrupt halt one day in the Selous. The driver had braked suddenly to avoid running over a large mamba. In Texas we accelerate for snakes on the road. Not a good idea with mambas!

I think a lot of people are far too paranoid about snakes. I've kicked around Africa for 30 years, slept in the bush numerous nights, including many without tent, sleeping bag or anything else except a small fire and a rifle. I've had numerous close encounters with various snakes over that period.

I've had face to face encounters at a yard or two with mambas and other snakes, I've stepped on several puff adders, and even found myself (accidentally) pissing on a spitting cobra.

When I've absolutely had to, I've killed several over that time when they've come into camp and can't be moved out or when they've come into my house....... but not once in all that those years have I ever felt I came close to getting bitten and what's more, I've never had any member of staff get bitten.

I have to wonder why on earth do so many people feel the need to kill a snake that's just going about it's business of being a snake, when they see one in the bush?

Hope I don't offend anyone here, but as I see it, that kind of behaviour simply shows a deep lack of understanding of the eco system they're in.

About the only exception I'll make of that statement is if you find yourself in a blind with a snake and the snake is blocking the exit OR if you're a Masai because those buggers have had it bred into them for generations to kill any snake or Lion they ever come across.

i would never do the cut and suck method.....do know enough bout venom to know thats pretty well useless....tourniquets do work so long as you dont mind loosing everything below the tourniquet and apply it ASAP after the bite and dont loosen it up.....the shock method, while unpleasant in general isnt dangerous and in the middle of nowhere im willing to give it a try.....close to a hospital i would rather have the antivenin....

Saw the cut and suck method go REALLY sour...the only time I saw it used....

Ingwe

I must be Masai.

I've read a couple posts about the danger of running over mambas in this thread. Are they capable of striking people riding in the open cab of a jeep if they rear up when a vehicle passes?

I don't know anything about mambas, but in the video posted back sevral pages where the mamba got into the blind I was amazed how easily they can climb!

mambas are long snakes, up to around 14 foot, and being a tree snake aswell they are more than capable of raising the front half of their body off the ground(a king cobra amd most ground dwelling snakes can only do maybe a third, usually less other than with cobras).....easy enough for a large mamba to rear up enough and nail someone in an open topped/sided vehicle....

Thanks rattler.

And here I thought riding in a vehicle would be a place safe from snakes...

just ride b!tch, that way its the guys on either side of you that get bit

I have a solution to african emergency physician access...I will offer personal physician services for african trips and I will bring the emergency kit. The cost is 1X1 hunt all inclusive for me!!!

Or, as we call it over here.." where the "real" cowboy" rides
Ingwe

Let me get back to you on that!
Ingwe

Yep