North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Sheridan Shumway <rattler_mt@yahoo.com>]

ive run across this quite a bit.....i have my doubts as to how well it 
works.....venom is an enzyme....a protein....and i dont see how passing an 
electric current through the bite area is going to destroy the venom without 
destroying the other proteins in the area such as muscle tissue.....im 
guessing the vast majority of successful treatments using it are because the 
bites were relatively dry....lacking much venom....a snake can control how 
much venom it injects and not every bite gets a full, potentially lethal load 
of venom....

add that to the fact the vast majority of rattlesnakes in the US really arent 
all that dangerous unless your real young, real old or allergic to the 
venom....most any healthy adult who is not allergic to the venom can survive 
a copperhead bite with out anti venom.....the same with most of our smaller 
rattlesnakes though there are some exceptions such as mohave greens and the 
southern pacifics....eastern diamondback venom isnt particularly toxic, the 
snakes just get large and can inject so much that it becomes a real worry....

Sheridan S.