And you know, he was never envenomated by a poisonous snake. This was partly because he objected to pinning the snake's head down and grabbing it from behind the head, which he said hurt the animal. He always picked them up by the tail. He was bitten by many non-venomous species (SO WAS I!!!)

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I was an amateur herpetologist who kept all manner of creatures as a kid.


Yep - me too, and my Dad before me. I was always catching the ubiquitous garter snakes (this is in southeastern Michigan), king snakes, never caught a hognosed snake though. The Lon Chaney of the snake world - if you come across one in the wild, they will puff their bodies way up and hiss, and strike (without opening their mouths). Then, if this fails to scare you off, it goes into convulsions like it's choking on something, then plays dead on its back. In this play-dead state you can pick them up, hang them over a fence or anything. But if you turn it rightside up, it will turn itself BACK over to help you understand that it's dead!

In Henderson, Nevada, where Buddy Barnett lives now, I did have one experience with a poisonous snake. I went out to go to work at about 9:45 AM and there was a sidewinder, half-grown and about 14 inches long, curled up and sleeping behind my left rear tire. This was in summer so it was already about 95 degrees, so I squirted it with the hose. A snake cannot strike faster than your eye can see if its body temp is under 60 degrees. Then I pinned its head, picked him up, and put a pencil in front his mouth. He bit it, with its fangs over it, and dripping venom. This was so if he got me, it would be with less juice. Then I took him to the big vacant field across the street and let him go, where there were lots of lizards and field mice to eat. Probably where he came from anyway.

This may been risky and stupid, but it was better than running over and squashing him. My other major snake hero is Bill Haast in Miami, who at 90+ years of age is still milking dozens of cobras every day. As far back as 1931 he maintained that synthesized neurotoxic venom could be used to treat polio, and he was right. Last year they found out that components of copperhead venom can be used to treat breast cancer in women.