Chapter 8
With the crime lab night shift audiovisual whiz Archie Johnson seated beside him in the A-V lab, Warrick watched in amazement as the victim he had last seen dead on his couch aped for the camera. Clearly intoxicated, he leered at the lens.
"Jimbo, you always were such a prick about these snakes. Such a chicken! What's a little baby rattler going to do to you anyway? Give you an owe-y? Who ever would have thought, as anal as you were with these guys, I'd walk in to bring you some weed and find you killed by a snake that isn't even poisonous?!" Still snickering, he reached off screen to pull about a 9" long little rattlesnake out of a tank and dangle it in front of him.
"Look at how cute he is!" Holding the snake with two fingers just behind the head, he swung the struggling animal around a little in the air, then turned it around to face him."
"Hi, baby!" he crooned. "How about a kiss for Daddy?" He brought the snake toward his face, clearly planning to follow through on his stated plan. As the frightened little creature neared his lips, it wriggled enough to gain a bit of head control and struck, sinking its fangs deeply into his bottom lip. The man froze for a second, before shouting "Shit, you little bastard!" ripping the snake away, and flinging it off screen. He stood for a moment, then rocked woozily on his legs and sank down to the couch.
"That snake," Catherine intoned from the doorway, "is a Mojave Green or Mojave Rattlesnake, probably about four months old. It's the only species of North American Rattlesnake with a neurotoxic venom. Unlike other Crotalines, which kill by disrupting the integrity of the circulatory system leading to death by circulatory collapse, usually over several hours, the venom of the Mojave attacks the nervous system with neurotoxins and the bloodstream with hemotoxins. In severe cases, like if you get bitten on the lip, rapid paralysis is possible, and skeletal muscle weakness can lead to difficulty breathing and respiratory failure."
"I guess he didn't realize that a baby rattler can kill you just as easily as an adult."
"Actually, it's more likely to. Adults have learned to control the injection of their venom, and they aren't trying to eat you. That's one of the reason there are so many dry bites. Babies, however, are scared and inexperienced. They'll throw everything at you including the kitchen sink. Just bad luck this little guy managed to sink his fangs into the guy's face."
"Bad luck? The guy was trying to KISS the snake! Where else was it going to bite him?"
Just then Catherine's pager went off. She glanced at it and let out a tired breath.
"Come on partner. Larry Mitchell has another 419 that has our name all over it."