When treating snakebites, American hospitals turn to zoos
The zookeeper will see you now
AT SPACE FARMS, a family-owned zoo and museum in rural New Jersey, Parker Space keeps African puff adders, cobras, copperheads, rat snakes, pythons, boa constrictors, “a bunch” of cottonmouth moccasins and eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. “I’ve been slinging a rattlesnake since I was 12,” says Mr Space, who is also a Republican state senator. On December 30th, aged 56, he sustained his first bite. His local hospital injected 14 vials of antivenom, but his bitten hand remained stubbornly swollen. So he was flown to the Bronx, where snake-bite specialists and exotic-snake antivenoms abound.
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Snakes on a list”
United States January 11th 2025
- Los Angeles against the flames
- America’s bet on industrial policy starts to pay off for semiconductors
- Mike Johnson has his old job back, for now
- When treating snakebites, American hospitals turn to zoos
- Most Americans think moderate drinking is fine
- The US Army needs less good, cheaper drones to compete
More from United States
America’s bet on industrial policy starts to pay off for semiconductors
Trump will not reverse the chip subsidies, but will he reinforce them?
Most Americans think moderate drinking is fine
They are unaware of the cancer risk
Mike Johnson has his old job back, for now
But the GOP has the tightest House majority in nearly a century
Los Angeles against the flames
Always vulnerable, the city is increasingly susceptible to fire
The US Army needs less good, cheaper drones to compete
It seems obvious. So what is stopping it from happening?
Trump has faced down Republican dissidents in Congress
After some drama he gets his man for speaker of the House. That was the easy part