Renowned snake researcher dead after he was bitten by rattlesnake in West Virginia

An aged famend snake fanatic died after he was bitten by a rattlesnake in West Virginia final week, his household mentioned.

William H. “Marty” Martin, 80, was killed on Aug. 3 after he was bitten by a timber rattler on his property in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in line with his spouse, Renee Martin.

Regardless of his age, Martin would repeatedly make the arduous trek up native mountains to doc the snake populations at distant websites, in line with Joe Villari, supervisor of the Bull Run Mountains Protect in northern Virginia.

“He was in his 80s, and he was arduous to maintain up with,” mentioned Villari, who would be a part of Martin on his semiannual excursions.

Martin was maybe the nation’s main knowledgeable on timber rattlers — a species that’s notoriously arduous to to seek out — which he had studied since he was a toddler, in line with John Sealy, a rattlesnake researcher from Stokesdale, North Carolina.

“They’re extraordinarily secretive animals,” Sealy mentioned.

Snake bites are not often deadly. The Facilities for Illness Management estimates they account for about 5 deaths yearly within the US.

Dan Keyler, a toxicology professor on the College of Minnesota and an knowledgeable on snakebites, mentioned a second snakebite might be extra deadly than a primary for some folks.

Rattlesnakes notably might be extra harmful in the event that they develop to a measurement that enables them to inject extra venom, and an individual’s age impacts their susceptibility, he mentioned.

Martin had been bitten earlier than in his profession, however recovered.

Villari mentioned timber rattlers are typically docile, keep away from human contact and infrequently gained’t chunk even when they’re unintentionally stepped on.

“They save their venom for his or her prey,” he mentioned.

With Publish Wires