Man Dies After Being Bitten By Pet Snake

marisa · 08-05-03, 01:05 AM

Man Dies After Being Bitten By Pet Snake

A Dayton, Ohio, firefighter died Monday afternoon after his venomous pet snake bit him.
Michael Peterman, 48, was handling a Central African Rhinoceros Viper in his home in the suburb of Oakwood when it bit him Sunday night.

Other snake collectors in the area said Peterman "knew his snakes" and even used special tongs to feed it.

Peterman was flown to University hospital around noon Monday. He died later in the afternoon.

Anti-venom was flown to the hospital from Miami, Florida, but it did not save the man's life.

The snake, also known as the river jack, has a triangle-shaped head and can become four feet long.

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2003/local/08/04/snake.html

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Notice the part of this guy who says "He even used special tongs to feed it" I don't know this guy but that is a kind of nutty statement.

Marisa

Zoe · 08-05-03, 01:51 AM

Yeah, I thought that when I read that too! Do they mean special tongs as opposed to normal tongs, or that he used tongs at all? Stupid, if he thinks he knows what he is doing by using tongs to feed, i daresay he deserved it!

Zoe

Bryce Masuk · 08-05-03, 02:58 AM

Tongs that are normal to us = special tongs to the idiots at any newspaper

Mustangrde1 · 08-05-03, 04:38 AM

The key word here is "HANDLING",as for the use of "special tongs".His friend may have been reffering to him using 24 inch or larger tongs for feeding thoses would be called special by many people.It is a shame he died however what the press actually post and what the truth really is are two completely diffrent things.I know of a certain person who was bitten and the press reported there were frantic calls to 911.I know for a fact no call ever went out nor was there any Panic involved.To be Honest it was a very calm and very direct . So do not believe what the press reports.I would love to know the truth though. Was he freehandling , was he using tools did the snake manage a bite that was unexpected etc.etc.etc.

Jeremy · 08-05-03, 06:18 AM

How the heck can you guys make statements like that!!! A man just died!! Everything I have heard leads me to belive he was a very responsible keeper who paid the ultimate price for his passion. This is no jokeing matter and that freaken pisses me off that you guys can sit there and bad mouth over somthing like that.

Hell, even if he did free handle, taht is no way to act about somones death.

Go over to KS with the rest of the scum.

Thats just wrong!

R.I.P my fellow hot herp lover.

Saddened,
Jeremy

P.S Mustangrde1, I exculde you from the above statements.

Jeremy · 08-05-03, 06:21 AM

P.S Sorry Marisa, you too. Though I dont think the tong statement was that weird, I do appreciate that you havent said" He deserved it". No one deserves death except my mortal enemy and Bin laden(includeing fallowers).

Jeremy

Jeremy · 08-05-03, 06:22 AM

Bryce too. Sorry no coffee yet and alot of emotions.

Gregg M · 08-05-03, 08:14 AM

It is always a sad thing when someone dies from something they should have been able to recover from...... In one article I read that there was no AV to be found for this species anywhere in the country....... I wonder if they were looking for rhino viper AV that does not exist, when they should have been looking for South African polyent...... That would be a very unfortunate thing....... In my eyes only murderers and child molesters deserve to die, not reptile keepers...... Well let this be a reminder of how much respect we should all have for these reptiles and that keeping your own supply of AV WILL save your life...... My heart felt sympathies go out to Mr petermans family and friends......
Gregg

Matt · 08-05-03, 08:32 AM

well said gregg....exactly the reason all non native venomous keepers should keep AV on hand......if not, at least have an informatyion folder about what AV to use and how to go about it. Im not sure if he had that information package or not, but if he didnt, having it might have saved his life.
I too am sympathetic to him and his family for this loss

BWSmith · 08-05-03, 08:46 AM

Never forget that the press is against us. As venomous keepers (and exotic keepers in general), we are misunderstood by the general public. Hot keepers are portrayed and misfits and outcasts having deadly things as "pets" for no reason. "pets"............ "pets" ................. ACK! I won't even go into that one. But unless you are bitten while working at an institution, you will get no respect from the press and your story will be full of half truths and misleading information.

All of us as Hot Keepers take on the concequesces of our passion. We accept the possibility of what the result of a bite could be. Unfortunately, he payed the ultimate price. I won't get into the disprespect to him that has been shown. But ponder this. No matter what his handling or care or anything, the man was a Firefighter! He risked his life everyday to save the lives of strangers. That if nothing else deserves respect.

unBOAlievable · 08-05-03, 10:49 AM

That post could easily have been one of us, none of us are above being bitten. True some are at greater risk than others but it can happen to us all just the same. I do not know anyone that has planned on getting bit. My heart goes out to his family.

I have also been known to use those stupid special 40" tongs for ones that only hit moving prey. I must be crazy for feeding dethawed

marisa · 08-05-03, 11:04 AM

Well for one of course it is sad that he died.

For two, the press may be against you wonderful hot keepers but hey, if they are watching you, WATCH THEM BACK! LOL. I always read all reptile news and I am usually intrigued by the hot snake news which is why I post it in here.

I do not keep hot snakes, I have never ever kept hot snakes. But if I did (maybe I am wrong here) I would certainly like to read reminders like this one now and again. Anyone can become comfortable or just simply make a mistake. Maybe this guys death will help one of you guys remember or keep on track when working with your hots. (Not like you dont already but accidents happen!)

I agree with BWSmith about the firefighter part, but I find it odd he didn't have AV on hand being trained in some medical care for emergency situations. Although maybe he did and couldn't get to it, we don't know.

Jeremy I don't believe anyone *Deserves* death unless they ask for it. In this case, I am sure this man DID make a mistake and it was accidental and probably not due to stupidity. But if it WAS due to stupidity, I am sorry but I wouldn't feel that bad hearing about it. People who take *unneeded* risks have to assume at some point they may die or they need to change their ways. If they still decide not to change their ways, then why should their stupidity be rewarded with my pity? But that is neither here nor there in this thread IMHO .....

But I fully agree, that in this case I DO feel sad he lost his life as he was obviously a upstanding member of his community and it was probably a mistake that could have happened to any of you.

Marisa

BWSmith · 08-05-03, 11:28 AM

AV is hard to get as a private individual. I think that by the time they realize what AV they were supposed to use, it was too late. This is why I keep protocols for every hto snake I keep in an emergency kit along with everything I need to pretreat myself.

Snakesafe · 08-05-03, 05:45 PM

Deepest respects go to him as a firefighter and a venomous keeper. Both instances take unique individuals. Both require the passion to do it. He was unique in that he did both. Any responsible venomous keeper has my respect, and dare I say the respect of every other responsible venomous keeper. (Notice I said responsible...) His mistake seems to be that he was human and humans are inately falible. We all make mistakes. Some are simply more costly than others. As stated earlier, this post could have been about any venomous keeper.

Maybe we should all take a second and learn from this tragedy.

lordkovacs · 08-05-03, 05:49 PM

indeed... we should learn from all mistakes, not just tragedies. if we don't, then we are no better than before we read the post. I am not a hot keeper, however, I will apply what happened here to my every day life.

MIKE