Snakes nearly kill man

By Ann Weaver
The Oklahoman

TECUMSEH - The wife of a man bitten by two poisonous snakes says
he's changed his live-and-let-live attitude toward the reptiles.
Gloria Cave said her husband, James Cave, 47, was bitten four
times by two different types of snakes Sunday at their rural
home, south of State Highways 9 and 102.

Cave is recovering in the critical care unit at St. Anthony
Hospital.

"I can't believe he survived it," Gloria Cave said Thursday.
"It's a story we can see some humor in now, but four days ago
we thought we could lose him."

Gloria Cave said her husband wasn't well enough until Wednesday
to recount the complete story of his encounter with the snakes.

She said he was "puttering around" near a garage about 100 feet
from their home when a sharp pain ran through his foot. When he
reached down to grab his foot, a pygmy rattlesnake sank one fang
into his hand and the other into his foot, Gloria Cave said.

She said her husband stumbled backward and fell over a barrel,
landing on a copperhead snake. That snake bit him on the right
foot, then in the groin, she said.

She said her husband was wearing sandals and shorts.

James Cave managed to make his way to the house, Gloria Cave
said. Within minutes, his mouth had swollen and he was vomiting,
she said.

Their 21-year-old son, Andy Cave, and a neighbor loaded him
into a car and took him to Shawnee Unity Health Center, about
20 minutes from their home.

He was treated with antivenin and rushed by helicopter to
St. Anthony Hospital.

Neil Garrison, naturalist at Martin Park Nature Center in
Oklahoma City, said it's unusual for someone to encounter two
venomous snakes at one time.

He said the pygmy rattlesnakes, timber rattlers and copperheads
exist in patchy parts of central Oklahoma's ecosystem but are not
generally a threat to humans.

Garrison said snakes aren't looking for a fight and don't strike
unless they're provoked, stepped on or humans simply get too
close to them.

The best way to avoid being bitten is to use common sense,
he said.

"Don't put your hands and feet where you can't see," Garrison
said. "If you venture out in the yard at night, take a flashlight."

Unity Health Center spokewoman Linda Brown said the hospital
has seen a rash of snake bites in recent weeks, and they've
kept an ample supply of antivenin stocked to meet the demand.

She said if venom enters the bloodstream it can cause neurological
problems, so patients with serious bites are sent to larger
hospitals in Oklahoma City.

For the past few days, Aaron Cave, 25, has been burning brush and
clearing out areas around his parents' home where snakes could be
concealed.

A neighbor has been doing the same on his property, Gloria Cave
said. She said her husband and the snakes have lived peacefully
together on the property for 20 years, and before the snakebites,
he had refused to kill snakes around their home.

Now, he feels the situtation has changed to kill-or-be-killed,
she said.

Gloria Cave said she returned home Wednesday night for the
first time since her husband was bitten.

"Let's just say it felt like a long walk from my van to the
front door," Cave said. "We're going to be keeping the porch
light on more now."