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Ohio Woman Mauled by Dogs While Hiking

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An Ohio woman was out for a brisk hike last week when she was set upon by three blood-thirsty canines. Specifically, she was in the “Great Seal State Park” in Chillicothe, Ohio. It’s a burg about 60 miles south of Columbus. She survived the attack, but she walked away with severe bites on her legs. She was able to call her husband who in turn contacted police.

Holly Gray said while on her hike, she saw the dogs eating an animal carcass. Upon seeing the woman, they acted aggressively and charged her. She was pinned against a tree as they bit her. She was able to grab a stick as her only defense. Her husband led police to her site when two of the dogs ran away, while officers were able to shot and kill the third. It was a large Boxer dog. The owners of the dogs were identified at the scene and an investigation by the sheriff’s office, the dog warden’s office and park rangers from the state park is ongoing..

This is yet another good reason to use Trekking Poles. …

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Yet one more blog on rattlesnakes

Gee, we’re really getting a real dose of rattlesnake culture here. Just when I thought it was time to move on, I found this YouTube about a Stillwater, Texas event called the Rattlesnake Roundup. If you get queasy looking at hundreds of snakes, pass on this one. Kinda reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies where he gets dropped into a gaggle of snakes. “Why did it have to be snakes?” 

So just like most of us get excited at a basketball game, these folks from the Lone Star State get their jollies capturing rattlers and “milking” their venom out. I’ll save the ending for you – all I can say is they don’t release them into the wild. Where’s PITA on this one??

You just missed the 55th annual event held earlier in March – darn. Book your trip for 2014 now!

You’ll actually be lucky to see a rattlesnake in Yosemite – they are there but actually not much of a problem. In 2012 a man did get bit in Little Yosemtie Valley. Ouch.

 

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “Baaaby snakes!” – Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – …

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More on Rattlesnakes at Yosemite

 

We recently got a blog comment on my piece about rattlesnakes from Bryan Hughes, out of the greater Phoenix area. He runs a service called Rattlesnake Solutions, LLC. There are way more rattlers in that dessert environment than we have in the Sierra, so I defer to him. They specialize in snake education and snake relocation services. They have been able to humanely move over 900 snakes to a better place than residential areas.

According to the CDC, there are about 8,000 venomous snake bites in the United States each year, and less than 10 of those victims die. So statistically, it’s not a major worry compared to freeway driving. Bryan’s advice is you do get bit, get to a hospital as fast as possible. First, try your best to keep calm and just remember the statistics: in almost every case, you will live. Keeping calm keeps your heart-rate down, slowing the venom’s progression through the body.

Remove any jewelry to allow for swelling. Keep the bite area below your heart, if possible. Do not cut, suck, or try to bleed venom from the wound. This does not …

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