"...I've been stung by many a honeybee. I know I have no allergic reaction to them..."

Me too. But one day my partner and I both got stung, not the first time for either of us. Within about ten minutes his face turned red, started swelling up, couldn't breath, etc. I slapped some O2 on him and made a high speed run to the hospital, it took them about six hours to get him under control. He of course now carries a sting kit all the time, and so do I, just in case I (or my wife) should every have that first (and possibly last) allergic reaction...

That's how bad it can be even when you CAN get to a hospital. Imagine being out in the wilderness with no quick way out. I don't know at what point I would remove my revolver from its holster, but it needs to be before I'm paralyzed.

No kidding. Just saw a nat. geo special about box jellyfish, (Irukandji, etc) being the most venemous animals on earth. Incredible how deadly those tiny things are.

Actually, I have no idea what the statistical outcome of sitting still would be - good prehistoric statistics are hard to come by. Modern medicine will tell you that the one thing you do not want to do is start running... With snake bites, because of the large number of dry bites, small amounts of injected venom, etc. many spurious remedies for snakebite venom have come into popular folklore (like whiskey as a cure, or the prevalence of "cut and suck" for many years).

Snakebites are a relatively minor problem in the outdoors. You are far more likely to get into trouble from a fall, various forms of drowning, or from weather extremes of heat and cold. This is what actually kills and injures people in the outdoors, not animals.

Learn and practice good preventive techniques. Do not stick your hands into crevices or into places where you cannot see clearly. Walk cautiously through brush and make a lot of noise. Be alert, not just for critters, but for all the other things out there.

My recent sojourn to Oz for a few months included tales from some of the locals about certain very poisonous snakes and spiders actually chasing people. A common tote for some of the "bushier" blokes I met was a 6-8 foot length of garden hose with a steel chain inserted down the length. If a snake was encountered, it made for an excellent snake whip, much better than a stick.

Truly amazing how lethal and quick Australian pests can be. Kinda made sleeping out in a bedroll under the stars a bit um, adventurous. I only got stung once out there while sleeping, by some little flying ant I think, but that bugger hurt for days.

We used to hunt Pacific Rattlers using just the soles of our heavy boots back home. You had to be careful, but if you could get them to strike at the sole of your boot you could step down on their heads and that'd be the end of it.

I don't mess around with snakes like that anymore. Getting too old, and here in Florida they got snakes with attitude and a lot more dangerous bite! I hear tell that the Pygmy rattlers are the worst, mainly because of their size and population, even though theirs isn't the most deadly of venom.

I see a coral snake out here, I will be inclined to leave it alone if it will do the same for me. Otherwise I might have to make me one of them snake-bashing hoses my mates told me about. There is so much debris and undergrowth here in the forests/swamps/hammocks that it'd be darn nigh impossible to step off the trail and not risk getting bit.

"...you could get them to strike at the sole of your boot..."

With my luck the snake, which of course would be longer than my inseam length, would miss my boot, go up my pants leg, and bite me you know where.

Here in AZ (and other nearby places) they have the Mojave Green rattler, which has a much more potent venom than other rattlers, and locals swear that they have seen people being chased by them. Kinda reminds me of the fer de lance and bushmaster stories...