They\u2019re quiet, fast and able to blend into their surroundings. One bite can send someone to the emergency room.<\/p>\n
Watch the full video below:<\/p>\n
Officials urge caution after reported rattlesnake bite on Madison River<\/p>\n
Rattlesnakes are drawing attention at the Damselfly Boat Launch on the Madison River after a 3-year-old boy was reportedly bitten by a rattlesnake there this past weekend.<\/p>\n
While encounters like this are uncommon, wildlife officials say they can happen, especially during the summer months when snakes are more active.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Tim and Jodie Salzman were fishing along the Madison River, an area known for rattlesnake activity.<\/p>\n
Tim recalled moving to Montana in the 1980s and heading to the Madison River to fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore my first cast, I went to step on a rock on the river, and there was a rattlesnake on the rock … my second day in Montana,\u201d Tim said.<\/p>\n
Although no snakes were spotted during a Monday visit to the boat launch, other recreationists know they are out there. According to a Facebook post, the 3-year-old boy who was bitten over the weekend was brought to the ER, received treatment, and is doing okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t just go in all of the places that look dangerous. If it looks all bushy and stuff like that, we\u2019re definitely not going to be walking through,\u201d Jodie said.<\/p>\n
Rattlesnake encounters are fairly uncommon. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 8,000 people in the United States are bitten by venomous snakes each year. About five of those bites are fatal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty uncommon. But it does happen,\u201d said Morgan Jacobsen, an information officer with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.<\/p>\n
Jacobsen said this time of year is when rattlesnakes are more active in Montana.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the places where people go to recreate, a lot of our fishing access sites and places along the rivers, are really common places to encounter snakes,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
Montana has one species of rattlesnake. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the prairie rattlesnake. It\u2019s the only venomous species in Montana,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
Jacobsen showed how people can identify the snakes by their color pattern, the rattle at the end of their tail, and their head.<\/p>\n
\u201cRattlesnakes have that triangular head,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
If someone is bitten, Jacobsen suggests seeking medical attention as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if it\u2019s safe to do so, take a picture of the snake, which can help with identification in that medical treatment process,\u201d Jacobsen said.<\/p>\n
For Tim and Jodie Salzman, seeing a rattlesnake can be both frightening and exciting. They said respect for wildlife is important while recreating outdoors.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust know animals are in their habitat being their animal selves and just respect them,\u201d Jodie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were here before we were,\u201d Tim added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They\u2019re quiet, fast and able to blend into their surroundings. One bite can send someone to the emergency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-788854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=788854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/788854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=788854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=788854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=788854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}