Two phrases everyone in the south should know:

Red touches yellow, dangerous fella.

Leaves of three, leave it be.

I'm just glad it was the dad and not his kids.


An Alabama who was recently bitten by a venomous coral snake is now "fighting for his life," his family said.

A coral snake, considered to be one of the most venomous species of snake in North America, recently bit Jeffrey Phillips outside his Gilbertown, Alabama home.

Phillips’ children were the first to spot the snake. Initially thinking the serpent was a harmless king snake, Phillips decided to catch it and give the snake as a gift to his older brother, who has owned snakes in the past, WTOK-News reported.


But shortly after, the dangerous coral snake bit Phillips. He was rushed to Anderson Hospital in Mississippi, where he remains in the intensive care unit.

Phillips, who is now paralyzed due to the snake's venom, has also suffered neurological and vision damage. And, up until Friday afternoon, Phillips was breathing through a ventilator.

“He will then need extensive physical therapy to learn how to walk, eat, write and all other every day activities,” according to Phillips’ GoFundMe page, which was set up to help the family pay for his medical expenses.

“He was about to start a job actually in a couple of weeks. So, he was laid off for the time being. He was about to start a job but he can’t do that now,” Angela Patrick, Phillip’s fiancée, told WTOK-News.

The couple was slated to marry in August — but due to Phillips’ condition, the wedding is now on hold.

Patrick did not return Fox News’ request for comment Friday.

“I’ve had my breakdowns, you know trying to hold it together. It’s scary knowing that my son could die,” Judy Kell, Phillips’ mother, said.

“I hate that it was him, I really do,” Patrick added. “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”


http://www.foxnews.com/health/...ite-family-says.html

Grew up around there. There are some who ain’t too bright.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fgwilliams1,

What is it with people trying to catch snakes. Either shoot it, chop it’s heas off, or leave it alone unless you are a herpetologist.

How i found out that i am unaffected by poison oak and ivy. I was 17 or 18. We were camping with my best friends family. He had s brother and two sisters. I had a few cousins with me on my side, 4 girls, one other boy. We wanted to hike to an overlook. We started up the trail, which meandered back and forth up the hill. On section was easy going up a slope, another next to a rock face. The overlook was at the top of the easy going section. The little cousins ans his little brother were getting tired. So i took a deer path straight through the last two switch backs to the over look. We looked around, hiked back down the whole deer path.. we ended up being a bit muddy. Our families combined the laundry and washed it all in one of the big washers at the camp.
I get up the next day and everyone is talking about their rash. Like everyone. Our 3 camp sites, the row of camp sites, the next two rows. It seems like after we washed our clothes, everyone used that washer and dryer. Spreading the poison oak oil to all those clothes.

Me, not one bit of a rash or itch. The other campers were not happy. I know it started from us because we were asked if anyone had run across any poison oak. The camp host pointed to the hill side and said that whole hill is poison oak if you dont know what it looks like

Red on yellow, kill a fellow.
Red on black, venom lacks.

Waiting in the wings to received his Darwin award...

Antivenom shortage

As of 2012, the relative rarity of coral snake bites combined with the high costs of producing and maintaining an antivenom supply mean that antivenom (also called "antivenin") production in the United States has ceased. According to Pfizer, the owner of the company that used to make the antivenom Coralmyn, it would take between $5–$10 million for researching a new synthetic antivenom.[citation needed][clarification needed] The cost was too large for the small number of cases presented each year. The existing American coral snake antivenom stock technically expired in 2008, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration date every year through at least April 30, 2017.[13][14] Foreign pharmaceutical manufacturers have produced other coral snake antivenoms, but the costs of licensing them in the United States have stalled availability (see above).[15] Instituto Bioclon is developing a coral snake antivenom.[16] In 2013, Pfizer was reportedly working on a new batch of antivenom but had not announced when it would become available.[14] As of 2016, the Venom Immunochemistry, Pharmacology and Emergency Response (VIPER) institute of the University of Arizona College of Medicine was enrolling participants in a clinical trial of INA2013, a "novel antivenom," according to the Florida Poison Information Center.[17][18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_snake

I leave snakes alone and they leave me alone. Unfortunate incident that could have easily been avoided. Prayers for healing and encouragement to the family.

Couple years ago I posted here, re my encounter with a coral snake.

What happened: Pippi, my Corgi girl, liked to sit out on the patio. One day I noticed her staring at something, so I went out to see what she was looking at. It was a coral snake, moving slowly toward Pippi and the patio door.

I grabbed Pippi and pulled her into the house. The snake was on the concrete patio pad so I did not want to shoot for fear of ricochet. I got a hoe and went full retard.

I posted pictures of the headless snake corpse here. This was the first venomous snake I have seen in my entire life, other than in a zoo.

Good my beer and watch this.

I see these damn snakes about once a year. I had no idea they were that dangerous.

I'll definitely effing kill them if I see them in my yard again.

Ever notice how many snake bites on humans are because the human was fucking with the snake? I'm sensing a pattern.

quote:

Red on yellow, kill a fellow.
Red on black, venom lacks.

I don't want to get close enough to find out which is which.

I always remember it yellow, red, dead.

Red on black, give it some slack;
Red on yellow, you're a dead fellow.

That's how I learned it about age 12. The report on the antivenin situation by wcb6092 is interesting news, hadn't heard of that.

I hate snakes, I'm not racial, I don't care what color they are. Kill em' all

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Antivenom shortage

So … where’s the “If it would save one life …” outrage at the failures of companies or “the government” to “do something”?
(Yes, I know the answers; it’s what’s called a rhetorical question.)

The first rule of handling snakes as I often did as a kid is to know what snake one is handling. There were no coral snakes in Minnesota, but I knew how to identify them.
And I find the similarity of some attitudes very interesting as well: “I don’t know anything about snakes or gun owners, but I don’t like either and am afraid of all of them, so get rid of all of them.”

I grew up in Fla, we had all kinda deadly critters.
Copperheads,
Rattlers,
Moccasins
Coral
Gators...

I learned, red next to yellow will kill a fellow, red next to black is a friend of Jack.

....we got real good at identifying them after my mom beat us kids for killing a black snake.

Seems like this guy was fucking with the snake who was minding his own business.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
I grew up in Fla, we had all kinda deadly critters.
Copperheads,
Rattlers,
Moccasins
Coral
Gators...

I learned, red next to yellow will kill a fellow, red next to black is a friend of Jack.

....we got real good at identifying them after my mom beat us kids for killing a black snake.

Seems like this guy was fucking with the snake who was minding his own business.

That right there is lifes greatest unlearned lesson. Leave shit alone

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Ever notice how many snake bites on humans are because the human was fucking with the snake? I'm sensing a pattern.

Medical expenses can be denied by your insurance company if they can prove that you went out of your way to mess with a snake. (Receiving a bite on the hand is one indication) Deciding to play with a snake that you know nothing about is very stupid on many different levels.

Red, black yellow- Who cares what order I'm not touching it.

Stupid hurts and is expensive if you live.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Red, black yellow- Who cares what order I'm not touching it.

^^^^^^
This!!!