I'd been told by a ranger in Joshua Tree that half of the people attacked by rattlers never really were bitten. The snake didn't get through their clothes. Of the rest, only half were injected with poison. Rattlesnakes use their poison to hunt. They need it to survive and can only produce a limited supply.
"You probably looked a bit too large to eat, so I doubt if he really hurt you. We'll just sit here quietly and see if any swelling or bruising develops in that leg."
Sitting "quietly" for an hour and a half waiting for purple bruises to appear on your snake bitten leg wasn't my idea of a fun weekend in San Francisco, but what choice did I have?
No bruise appeared and the rangers released me with advice to take it very easy for the next day or two. "Doesn't look like he injected any poison, but even the tiniest bit will make you very sore." I explained that I had every intention of taking it easy and had decided to go home first thing in the morning!! "Why?", asked the ranger. "Trouble always comes in threes and this is your third. You're totally safe now." I walked out of the ranger station, called Karen, and told her I was heading home in the morning.
Later that night some swelling and bruising appeared. One of the rangers stopped by my campsite to check on me, but neither of us were worried. The bruise remained very small, though quite painful in a way I've never been able to describe. Human bodies just don't react well to being injected with digestive fluids. I limped and hurt for about a week, and wondered what a bad bite would have been like (and hoped I'd never find out).
Undoubtedly you think of rattlesnake bites as something that happens to other people. Drunks at the river get bites, kids hunting snakes get bites, DPS types who know and respect the desert never would get bitten! I know better now. I know that somewhere out there is a snake with Steven King eyes. He knows how to bite. He might not hurt you (too much), but he'll sure scare the #@%$& out of you.
