Ray Hunter bitten by EDB

[Bay_area]

Please pray for him! I called him & he said it is a bad bite!

from the Article;

Rattlesnake bites Port St. Lucie man


Reported by, Bryan Garner
Photographer, Jenny Newell

Ray Hunter calls himself the "Cobra Man."

His website, http://www.cobraman.net/, (http://www.cobraman.net/,) is filled with photos of him and his deadly pets, including a 14-foot long Malaysian cobra.

He has a license to own venomous snakes,and he keeps several of them in his Port St. Lucie apartment.
Over the weekend, it wasn’t Hunter’s pet cobra, but a pet rattlesnake that caused the problem. An Eastern diamondback rattler, the most deadly of all, bit him in the hand.

Ray Hunter is no stranger to venomous snakebites. Friends say he’s been bitten 40 times. His website shows pictures of his wounds and talks about how he self-medicates with anti-venin.

But this time, Hunter couldn’t fight off the poison on his own. He drove himself to the St. Lucie Medical Center and made it all the way to the hospital parking lot, before he passed out behind the wheel of his car.

Firefighters rushed in 30 vials of anti-venin from Miami to treat him. Even with the medicine he remains in critical condition.

"Ray is a very nice guy. He’s very professional in what he does. So hopefully he’ll come out of it OK," says Kellberg.

On his "Cobra Man" website Hunter explains why he keeps having run ins with his snakes. "The one side-effect of self-immunizing," he writes, "It tends to make you a bit complacent while handling [snakes].”

Hunter is in the intensive care unit at St. Lucie Medical Center.

Al Cruz, a firefighter who heads up the state's anti-venin program, says poisonous snakes bite about 250 Floridians each year. He says in the past 10 years no one who has received treatment with anti-venin has died from a snake bite.

[Lori P]

Wow, how scary. Prayers from here. Keep us posted....

[enigma200316]

hope he comes out ok, my thoughts and prayers are with him........

[Stefan-A]

Wow, 40 times? :rolleyes:

[adamanteus]

That's bad. Hang in there, Ray.

[drache]

best wishes for a complete recovery

[Sid]

Sincere wishes to Ray for a speedy and complete recovery.

[anji1971]

Wow, what a close call...........so thankful he made it to the hospital. I am sending my prayers.

[RZL36]

That's really terrible. I hope that he is able to keep his hand and recovers. Crotalid bites are physically very nasty to see.

[Lulu Bennett]

he is a very lucky man. I am sending my love. Let us know how it goes. xxx

[adamanteus]

Crotalid bites are physically very nasty to see.

That's so true. Let's hope the tissue damage isn't too extensive. Just the thought of being envenomated by something like an EDB turns me cold! I hope he'll be okay.

[Bay_area]

updated article...he drove himself to the hospital:eek:




http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/oct/30/psl-man-drives-self-hospital-after-his-rattlesnake/ (http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/oct/30/psl-man-drives-self-hospital-after-his-rattlesnake/)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A venomous snake aficionado with the nickname "Cobraman" has been in the intensive care unit in the past after being bit by the slithery reptiles.

That's where 44-year-old Raymond Hunter is today — in critical condition in St. Lucie Medical Center — after an eastern diamondback rattlesnake chomped his right hand.

"He's got two passions in this world, Jesus Christ and venomous snakes," friend Andy James said Monday afternoon.

Hunter has a Web site that shows a variety of photos of himself holding cobras by the tail. It also states he became "a born again child of God in 1985." He had a "bit of a stumble" with the occult and became a member of the Church of Satan, though he is now a Christian.

He's known around St. Lucie County for his hobby of keeping venomous snakes. He sometimes helps animal control officers move a snake from one place to another. Sometimes he sells it; sometimes he gives it to a herpetologist; and sometimes he releases it into the wild in a non-populated area, James said.

Hunter got the eastern diamondback — the deadliest of all rattlers — following a call last week from city animal control officers. Apparently early Saturday morning, the creature bit him on the right hand, near the base of his forefinger and thumb, he told Port St. Lucie police and hospital staff.

He drove himself to St. Lucie Medical Center - and almost made it inside. About 12:30 a.m. Saturday a passerby told a police officer there that a man appeared to be unconscious in the parking lot behind the wheel of his parked vehicle, according to a police report.

"When (Hunter) got there, he already was in bad shape," Hunter's 47-year-old friend Maristela Duffield said.

As he lost consciousness, Hunter, who is licensed to possess venomous snakes, told investigators that his snakes and his residence were secure and that he lived in Midport Place, an apartment/condominium complex on Southeast Royal Green Circle.

"He was unable to provide any further details due to his rapidly declining condition," according to the report.

James said Hunter has a few snakes in his apartment, including cobras.

Al Cruz with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's Venom Response Bureau said his agency delivered 30 vials of anti-venom to the hospital.

He said eastern diamondbacks are the deadliest rattlers in the nation.

"One bite (has powerful enough venom to) kill five people," he said, estimating that 250 to 300 people each year are bitten by venomous snakes in Florida.

Duffield, who also has a license to keep venomous snakes, said Monday that Hunter was having dialysis in the hospital and has a tube in his throat. She said Hunter is fascinated with cobras and they've become a part of his identity.

"I believe it was an accident that maybe he just got too confident," said Duffield, who met Hunter through his sister-in-law more than 10 years ago.

She told investigators Hunter "self-immunized himself against many different exotic, poisonous snakes and had been bitten many times in the past," the report states.

Nancy Haast, administrator at the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories where Hunter worked briefly in the 1990s, said venom from eastern diamondbacks can cause a "massive destruction of blood and tissue and vital organs."

[adamanteus]

Any solid news on how is now? I guess it all depends on how much venom the snake delivered and how long it was from the time of the bite 'till he received medical help. I'll be watching this thread to see how he gets on.

[RZL36]

I know that I probably shouldn't be saying this, but I really never want to hear of someone keeping venomous snakes in an apartment. It drives me crazy. I really hope he is okay though.

[Bay_area]

This is all I have found out so far...
He recieved 24 vials of Antivenin the first day. His kidneys have shut down and he had surgey to relieve the pressure in his right arm. He was opened from the wrist to almost the shoulder. Ray did well in surgery. They opened his arm in 8 places from hand to tricep. Ray was given another 9 vials of anti-venin. after his first surgery. That takes the count up to 32 vials.
Currently, He is on meds for pain and antibiotics and his kidneys produced a small amount of fluid. He was on dialysis again, but the Doctors are very hopefull about his kidneys. He has a long road of recovery ahead of him.

[Lori P]

I'm just speechless. I really have never looked into what different types of venom can do to you. Mind boggling. I sure hope he makes a full recovery.

[adamanteus]

Promising prognosis after all. Fingers crossed for Ray.

[anji1971]

I'm just speechless. I really have never looked into what different types of venom can do to you. Mind boggling. I sure hope he makes a full recovery.

Not only that, but the amount of antivenon needed is a surprise to me. That's an awful lot of vials!

[Bay_area]

Not only that, but the amount of antivenon needed is a surprise to me. That's an awful lot of vials!
Also very expensive $$$$$$$

I am glad that I have Kaiser coverage. My insurance plan covers everything, only would have to pay the $50 emergency visit fee.
Can not find anyone to give me life insurance @ a good rate because I keep rattlers.
Funny thing is my homeowners insurance will not cover me if I have a rottwieller or pitbull, but I can have all the rattlers I want:D

[anji1971]

Life Insurance...........something else that would not have occurred to me........I guess it's a good thing I'm too chicken to keep anything venomous!!:D

[Lori P]

Here's something off of Yahoo this morning about setting a record with rattlers in a bathtub:

Texan sets record with 87 snakes in tub - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071106/ap_on_fe_st/odd_snakes_in_a_tub)

I'm just not sure my thought process would have ever gotten around to snuggling snakes in a tub... lol

[drache]

Funny thing is my homeowners insurance will not cover me if I have a rottwieller or pitbull, but I can have all the rattlers I want:D
our homeowner's insurance was going to charge us $500.- more, for having snakes, and Jeff was going to just let that pass
I ended up calling the agent and telling her that anything remotely dangerous is already illegal in NYC and if I had anything like that I would have been unlikely to mention it at all - and they backed off
now I wonder whether they originally asked because of particular dog breeds

[RZL36]

Jeff,

Isn't there a limit to how many hots you can have?

[adamanteus]

Any news on Rays recovery?

[Bay_area]

Last I heard was a week ago...

Update:

After near-fatal bite in PSL, 'Cobraman' says he plans to slow down

By Will Greenlee

Saturday, November 10, 2007

PORT ST. LUCIE — Ray Hunter knew this bite was going to be bad.

At 5 1/2 feet long, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake that chomped his right hand was a monster.

"I could feel that this thing put a lot of venom in me," Hunter said Friday in his room at St. Lucie Medical Center, nearly two weeks after the bite.

The 44-year-old Miami native has had a lifelong passion for snakes. The recent bite is his 44th "significant venomous" one and "definitely the worst."

Hunter, whose nickname is "Cobraman," is in renal failure, his right arm remains swollen significantly and he doesn't know when he can return to his Port St. Lucie home.

"I thank God, that God's given me another chance to go on living," Hunter said. "I know he's got some plan for me out there, I just don't know what it is."

Hunter, who's licensed to possess venomous snakes, got the male rattler, along with another eastern diamondback, from city animal control officials a few days before the bite.

"Instead of relocating it or killing it or whatever their options might be, if it's a venomous snake, they give it to me," he explained.

Hunter was cleaning cages early Oct. 27 and made a mistake judging distance.

Then it happened.

He quickly changed his shirt, shut down his computers and checked his watch — it was 12:36 a.m. — before driving to the hospital.

"The venom started taking effect very quickly," he said. "If you'd have told me before this happened that this ... could happen this quickly I would tell you you're crazy, that it can't, that you've safely got an hour."

He felt drunk and couldn't stay on the road. Knowing he couldn't park in the emergency room lot and walk in, Hunter figured he'd get as close as he could and then honk the horn.

"I felt like I was going to pass out, and, in fact, I did," he said.

A passerby told a police officer a man appeared to be unconscious behind the wheel of his parked vehicle, and he was taken inside.

Hunter said the bite has made him "more aware of a lot of things."

"I just basically have to just slow down, be a little more careful," he said. "The problem with working with a lot of snakes is you get complacent."

A practice of self immunization, or injecting diluted amounts venom, also lends to complacency.

"It's an added little insurance policy, but you're not God," he said. "When it's time to go, it's time to go."

Hunter, who buys and sells vacant lots for a living, said he usually doesn't keep his snakes at his home. The snake that bit him was there because he'd just gotten it a few days prior.

It's now at a zoo in another state, he said, along with some king cobras and "some other stuff that they'd bought."

[The article contains photos of Ray and the "monster" EDB that bit him]

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/nov/10/30after-44-bites-you-just-know-it-had-put-a-lot/ (http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/nov/10/30after-44-bites-you-just-know-it-had-put-a-lot/)

[adamanteus]

Good news then. It sounds as though he's going to be okay.

[drache]

glad he made it through
pretty amazing