Rattlesnakes and Llamas

Two news stories about animals doing what they do.

Rattlesnake Trick:

KGW.com reported Wednesday on a man who put his pet rattlesnake in his mouth.

A Portland man nearly died after putting a pet rattlesnake into his mouth to show off for friends.

Matt Wilkenson admitted that he made a poor decision, but he’d been drinking and messing around with friends and apparently lost some common sense.

So when he was showing off his reptile relations with friends, he thought it would be fun to put the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake into his mouth and make them laugh.

The rattlesnake latched onto the back of his throat and sent venom surging into his body.

And within seconds, his tongue began to swell up, fill his mouth and cut off his airway.

Wilkenson was dying and the pressure forced blood out of his nose. Doctors later told him the snake had shot enough venom in his body to kill as many as 15 people.

He was losing his life as he arrived at Oregon Health and Science University but quick-thinking doctors inserted a breathing tube in his throat and injected anti-venom into his body.

Wilkenson was also put into a medical-induced coma for three days, to give his body time to recover.

Miraculously, it all worked and three weeks later, he’s doing well. The hole in his throat is healing properly and doctors said he’s on the path to a full recovery.

Wilkenson no longer owns any poisonous snakes. Apparently he hasn't given up drinking, though, and that looks like the real cause of his problems.

Berserk Llama:

The AP reported yesterday about an innocent woman who was the victim of a rogue llama.

TERREBONNE, Ore. -- Nancy Campbell of Terrebonne expected an uneventful evening jog Monday night with her eight-year-old daughter riding along on her bike.

Instead she ran into a llama suffering from what veterinarians call "berserk llama syndrome."

The llama knocked Campbell down, stomped its feet, spit, and bit her. Her daughter raced home to tell her father what was happening.

Staff from the Humane Society of Redmond arrived and it took five people to pin the 250-pound animal down. Veterinarian Dr. Rachel Eaton says male llamas sometimes go "berserk" around puberty if they aren't gelded. This, often after they have bonded too closely with people.

The owner of the llama says she adopted the animal a month earlier from an animal rescue agency. She gave veterinarians permission to euthanize the animal the day after the attack.

Good thing Nancy had her daughter with her.

Stories like these make you wonder why people don't just stick with cats or dogs for pets.