snake bite???

S

Spadone

New member
I just read an add for Mace's 100,000 volt stun gun. It said it was also effective on snake bites. Can anyone tell me how this works?
 
I'm, uh, stunned that this myth is still being passed around. Electric current has absolutely no effect on any type of snake venom. Period. This idea has been investigated and rejected thoroughly. By the way, I am a biologist who's written a field guide to western reptiles and amphibians, so I'm not just passing on hearsay. The best way to use electric current if you're bitten by a venomous snake is to engage the starter motor to your car and get to a hospital!
 
I met a gentlemen once who believed the 'decomposition of venom by electricity' myth, until he got hit by a rattlesnake and used a car battery, jumper cables and the starter lead to shock himself.

Silly twit apparently did more damage with the electricity than the venom did. :rolleyes:

LawDog
 
Bit by snake?!? You can't let one get away with that. Bite him back! Works on dogs, too. I'm still working on bears; apparently slapping it in the face is only somewhat effective...
 
Talk about a bad day...yeah I got bit by a cottonmouth, then my buddy shot me with the stun gun...ouch...OUCH!
 
LawDog, I can sure see why using a jumper off the battery wouldn't do any good, myth or no. I don't even see how it could give much of a shock, at 12 volts...Lord knows, I've held hot leads many times--unless the guy was using the actual arc from a short, for the heat.

The myth began, I believe, in South America. The idea is to use a spark plug wire from a running motor and grounded into the bite-area. The high voltage supposedly decomposes the venom into a non-toxic material. The typical story goes, "I knew this guy, and his buddy got bit by a Fer de Lance, and..."

:), Art
 
Umm, Art, despite any past luck, I don't recommend licking any starter battery terminals. A car battery is definitely enough to cause damage. They are designed to have a high discharge rate, so it is not at all the same effect as, say 5 D cells in series, even though the voltage is roughly the same. No offense, and this is my field. But I still want to know how the Fer-de-Lance story turns out:)
 
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