Snake stories are like fishing stories; everyone has one and the facts of the story may be a bit more fiction than fact. For example, there is a story out of “Plum Creek” (now Lexington) from 1885 about Dr’s. Stimson and Charlesworth killing a “huge rattlesnake”. While using his whip in killing the snake, Dr. Stimson said the snake bit the whip causing the whip to swell considerably. Not sure how an inanimate whip could swell, but a great story.

A second story is from Pennsylvania, again in 1885, about a 15’ long rattlesnake being killed. The only problem with that is the largest rattlesnake ever reported was an eastern diamondback that measured seven feet, nine inches long. Most of the larger diamondbacks are about five to six feet in length. Like a fish story, my guess is the snake got longer with each telling.

Ten years later, on Aug. 3, 1895, there was a report in the Gothenburg Independent about a snake at Lake Helen. According to the story, two women saw a 17’ long water moccasin swimming in the water. As you might guess, that discouraged a lot of people from swimming in the lake. The only problem is the largest water moccasin ever reported was just a little over six feet long and besides, there has never been a confirmed sighting of a water moccasin in Nebraska what’s more out in the middle of the prairie that was Gothenburg in 1895. As a side note, a search for the snake turned up nothing and it’s not sure just what the women saw swimming in the water.

As I’ve noted in other essays, rattlesnakes and about a dozen other kinds of snakes can be found around Gothenburg. Rarely are they dangerous. Yes, there have been people bitten by rattlesnakes in the area. However, as you look at the confirmed snakebite deaths in the U.S. there are only one to 10 a year. Compare that to the 30 – 50 deaths from bee stings each year.

The other aspect of snakebite that is important to remember is that the vast majority of those bitten were handling the snakes. Of 10 reports in the '90s of death by snakebite, two of them were people who kept exotic vipers and cobras and were bitten by their pets. The other eight were handling rattlesnakes as part of a religious ceremony.

I used to play with rattlesnakes. I would pick them up. Not for any religious reason, just to do it. I was fortunate; I was never bitten by one. I’ve been bitten by a bunch of other snakes, however. As a sophomore in high school, I decided to run cross country. At a meet in Alliance, I was running along and a large common garter snake was crossing the course. I caught the snake. Sorry, I just can’t NOT catch a snake when I see one. When I got to the finish line the snake had my thumb completely in her mouth. I was far from the first runner to cross the finish line, but I received the most attention.

I’ve been bitten by bullsnakes, racers, boa constrictors, and a number of garter snakes but only one snake ever sent me to the hospital. That one was a 12’ long pet python. I grabbed her when she wasn’t ready and she turned and bit my hand. It drew blood but didn’t really hurt and there was no problem, until the next day when my hand was twice its normal size. A couple of hundred dollars later after an emergency room visit and some antibiotics I was fine, but I learned a lesson. Snakes DO bite when you handle them so I quit handling rattlesnakes because I figured it was WHEN I would get bitten, not IF.