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A reptile YouTuber from Pennsylvania has filmed himself being bitten by a non-venomous snake fifty times – including once in the face which left him dripping with blood.
Jesse Rothacker, the founder of the Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary, happened upon an Eastern Milk snake in a now viral video posted to YouTube on June 12.
In a bid to learn about the reptile Rothacker walks towards it as it slithers past and picks it up to get a better look at its different markings.
The Eastern Milk can be seen beginning to threaten Rothacker by rattling its tail, a warning sign the reptile lover shrugs off before grasping for the slithery serpent.
Reptile YouTuber, Jesse Rothacker, from Pennsylvania has filmed himself being bitten by a non-venomous snake fifty times including once in the face which left him dripping with blood
‘Some people see that tail rattle and they think venomous. But, snakes rattle their tail all the time,’ he said, recording the chance encounter.
‘Most snakes, venomous or not, use that tail as a warning sign.’
As Rothacker manhandles the snake as it attempts to slither away, the Eastern Milk can be seen giving him more of a stern warning sinking its fangs into his ankle.
It the first of many bites to come as the reptile attempts to release itself from Rothacker’s unrelenting grasp.
‘Except for being bitey, he’s actually very nice,’ Rothacker comments as he continues to film.
The snake he’s seen handling in the video has a distinctive pattern and is copper colored – which can sometimes be mistaken for a venomous copperhead, Rothacker is heard explaining.
The Eastern Milk, however, is nonvenomous, generally eats rodents and other snakes, and is mostly harmless to people, he continues.
‘Some other snakes just give you a little defensive bite, then they let go. The milk snake, it almost looks like they are tasting you,’ Rothacker said as the snake continues to bite him.
‘He’s going to eat all of me.’
In a bid to learn about the reptile Rothacker walks towards it as its slithering past and picks it up to get a better look at its different markings
The snake he’s seen handling in the video has a distinctive pattern and is copper colored – which can sometimes be mistaken for a venomous copperhead, Rothacker is heard explaining
The Eastern Milk, however, is nonvenomous, generally eats rodents and other snakes, and is mostly harmless to people, but had a taste for Rothaker as he bit him across the face
The snake continues to bite Rothaker from every angle, biting his shirt and pants, his arms and legs, even latching on to his nose and eyebrows and drawing blood from the reptile expert.
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‘This has to be one of the bitiest milk snakes I have ever seen,’ Rothaker says as blood begins to drip from the tiny bite marks on his face.
Wiping the blood away, Rothaker continues his video gasping when he sees how bloodied his face has become from one strike.
In another attempt to clean the wound, Rothaker successfully stops the bleeding, although the puncture wounds appear to still be oozing slightly.
Rothacker has been bitten ‘thousands’ of times by nonvenomous snakes over his career, but he’s never run across a snake quite as brazen as this, he explains.
‘This is the record for most bites from one snake,’ he said.
After nearly 12 minutes of being bitten by the snake Rothacker gingerly releases the snake onto a fallen log and watched it victoriously slither away.
‘I was hoping to make it more educational, but because this one is actually so active and so bitey I kind of forgot what I was saying,’ he adds.
The video was viewed 82,372 times and saw hundreds of people commenting below.
One person lauded the educational factor of the video saying: ‘That gorgeous snake was definitely very curious and no doubt hungry lol!
After nearly 12 minutes of being bitten by the snake Rothacker gingerly releases the snake onto a fallen log and watched it victoriously slither away.
The video was viewed 82,372 times and saw hundreds of people commenting below
‘Too many people rush to kill creatures that scare them, instead of learning about their place in our world. Thanks for caring and sharing.’
While another congratulated Rothacker’s calm demeanor through the biting frenzy: ‘I wish I could remain as calm while being bitten by a snake.
‘Even thinking about being bit makes me want to run. But I happen to live in Pennsylvania, and I just know I’m going to pause enough to try and identify the snake from now on.’
The Eastern Milk snake can be found nearly anywhere in Pennsylvania and is distributed across all 67 counties.
It can also be found in much of the Northeast extending into Canada and west Minnesota.
The most important characteristic of the snake is its belly which is usually white or cream colored with dark splotches checkerboarded across its back.
It typically lives in suburban and rural areas like damp bottomland, meadows, farmland harbor forests and rocky hillsides.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
