FEAR EVEN DEAD RATTLERS

By Ray Sasser
The Dallas Morning News

     Even a dead rattlesnake can hurt you.  Just ask Trey Hanover of College Station, TX.  On Labor Day weekend, Hanover and his father, Tommy Hanover were working on their deer lease when they killed a big rattler.

     They shot the snake's head off with a shotgun and loaded the carcass in the truck to show other hunters on their lease that they needed to be careful.

     "We hung the snake on the fence at the camp house," Tommy Hanover said.  "When we got ready to leave, Trey picked up the snake and threw it out in the pasture for the buzzards to eat."

     By the time he'd driven to College Station, Trey Hanover's eyes were very irritated.  By the next morning, his eyes were swollen shut.  The doctor who examined Hanover said it looked like he'd suffered a chemical burn.

     It too them a while to figure out that the shotgun load that vaporized the rattlesnake's head splattered the snake's venom over its body.

     When Hanover handled the snake, he got the venom on his hands and later rubbed it in his eyes, made itchy by dust and ragweed.  Sixteen days later, the vision in his right eye was back to normal.

     His left eye was still a little cloudy, but the doctor thought it would return to normal as well.

     "I've talked to one other person who had the same experience 20 years ago," said Tommy Hanover.  "We learned a valuable lesson about handling rattlesnakes - even dead ones."