Warning - headless snakes can bite

August 11, 2007, 9:31 am
Posted by stephen in General
Headless Snake Bites Hapless Man

In fact, "decapitated snake heads are dangerous for between 20 and 60 minutes after removal from the body of the snake," Jeffrey Suchard of the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix told SciAm's own Steve Mirsky  earlier that year. So remember: wait an hour before handling a dead snake.

So says Scientific American, which also refers to the NEJM article:

Dead rattlesnakes can bite? Mayo Clin Health Lett 1999;17:4.
PubMed

Suchard JR, LoVecchio F. Envenomations by rattlesnakes thought to be dead. N Engl J Med 1999;340:1930.
PubMed
Excerpt at NEJM

So be careful.  Don't be bitis.
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