Mason's Unfriendly Rattlesnake Encounter

Mason got bit by a rattlesnake on Friday afternoon (as Greg & I were stuck in major 4th of July traffic coming back from Stanford).  He was swimming and was sprinting up the hill by our pool and felt something painful, but continued running since he was trying to hide from his friend, Brady.  When he looked down and saw it bleeding, he went back to see what had "cut" his middle toe.  He flipped back a roll of indoor/outdoor carpet and saw the snake, which was about 2 feet long.  Realizing that he had been bit, Brady drove him to the Folsom Mercy Hospital (FYI Urgent Care does not have the antivenin to treat rattle snake bites).  Thanks to Chris, Adrienne, Tim & Kamee for meeting them down there as we sat in stopped traffic in Vacaville.

His foot started swelling immediately, and Mason ended up spending 2 nights in the ICU.  They administered 6 vials of antivenin before the swelling was stabilized.  They expect that he will fully recover but there was some tissue damage in his foot that will take some time.  He likely will not be able to put any weight on his foot for a couple of weeks. Thanks for the wheelchair loaner Collettes!

Greg & I have been a bit cavalier about the possibility about someone in our family getting a snake bite.  We have found and killed dozens of them on our property.  We really did not realize what a big deal it was.  We are all stepping with a bit more caution these days.  Just FYI - there are about 30,000 new cases of kidney cancer in the US every year and only about 8,000 venomous snake bites.