Charles Orgel.. age 13 of Brooklyn.. N. Y.s for his questions
What does It mean to milk a snake?
This is most definitely a job for experts. A milkable snake is poisonous. In fact the milk extracted is the snake’s supply of venom. Every smart person learns to recognize the poisonous snakes in his own state and favorite vacation areas. And no sensible amateur tangles with these fellows.
But you may be surprised to learn that many poisonous snakes are carefully kept for their supplies of venom. They may be milked of their poisons every two weeks. A snake may yield one drop to a. teaspoonful of venom at a time. The champion yielders are the diamond backed rattlers.
The tick is to get the snake to give up its venom for free. He would much rather use it to bite and kill his prey. He injects this venom with the two long fangs in his upper Jaw. An expert snake milker can fool a rattler into emptying his poisonous liquid harmlessly into a jar.
Firstv the snake is grasped and held so that he does not bite the milkman. This means a good grasp on the head. It also means being ready for the wriggler as he turns his snaky body this way and that. The head is placed over a jar. Very often the top of the jar is covered with a plastic or rubber top.
The milkman must be gentle with the snake. If the head is badly bruised the snake may die and yield no more snake milk. The head is held with the mouth wide open and the upper jaw over the jar. Gentle pressure may be used to push the .deadly fangs through the thin cover of the jar. The venom usually falls out in drops though it may rush out in a jet. A. little extra pressure on the head between the fangs extracts the last few drops of yellowish liquid.
Strange to says this snake venom will be used as medicine. It will become the antivenom used to treat snake bites. The liquid is dried and diluted. Very small doses are injected into a healthy horse„ The doses are not large enough two kill the horses Over a period of time the horse builds up defenses against the injections. A special substance is formed in the horses blood stream¢ This substance neutralizes snake venom and makes it harmless.
In time the blood of that horse becomes very valuable. The substance it contains can be used to save others from snakebite. The horse gives up his blood for processing. The serums which contains the antivenom is extracted. The medicine is prepared in proper doses. Campers and travelers into lonely rattlesnake country often take along a kit of antivenom just in case. This wonderful medicine will cure almost all snake bites if injected within a few hours after the attack.
The rattlesnakes it seems has some use after all. He can be milked to produce medicine to cure the bites of other rattlesnakes.