# Are Baby Rattlesnakes More Dangerous than Adults? Origin, Transmission, and Prevalence of a Media-Driven Myth, with Evidence of Effective Messaging to Dispel It

## TL;DR

This paper investigates the myth that baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous than adults, tracing its origin and showing how misinformation spread, especially in California, and how effective messaging has recently helped correct it.

## Contribution

The study identifies the origin and transmission timeline of a persistent myth about baby rattlesnakes and demonstrates how factual messaging can counteract it.

## Key findings

- The myth that baby rattlesnakes are more dangerous likely originated in the mid-to-late 1960s and became widespread in California.
- Factual information about rattlesnakes increased after 2015 due to effective messaging.
- Emergency responders and health professionals in Southern California were found to believe the myth at a high rate (73.3%).

## Abstract

The easily defanged myth that baby rattlesnakes (genera Crotalus and Sistrurus) are more dangerous than adults has persisted in North America despite all evidence to the contrary. The most often cited reason for the babies-more-dangerous (BMD) myth is the venom-dump (VD) hypothesis: babies, in contrast to adults, cannot control how much venom they expend, and therefore inject all of it when biting. We undertook three approaches to explore the origin, transmission, and prevalence of this myth and its most frequent explanation. First, we examined historical newspaper accounts. From 130 newspaper stories mentioning the relative danger of baby rattlesnakes, we identified a timeline in which (1) most stories prior to 1969 were factually correct; (2) the BMD myth and VD hypothesis likely originated in the mid-to-late 1960s and became entrenched in California, especially, from 1970 to 1999; (3) factually incorrect statements subsequently prevailed throughout North America from 2000 to 2014; and (4) factually correct stories regained prominence with apparent effective messaging success from 2015 onward. We further learned that general information stories about rattlesnakes, more often citing subject experts like university professors, were much more likely to provide accurate information than local snakebite stories, which more often cited health professionals (e.g., physicians, veterinarians, pharmacists) and emergency responders (e.g., police and fire officers) who frequently supplied misinformation. Second, we surveyed familiarity with the BMD myth and VD hypothesis among 53 university classrooms (including one high school) representing 3751 students across 29 states within the United States. Consistent with the California media’s outsized influence on misinformation transmission, familiarity with the myth was greatest in the southwestern states (52.6%) and declined moving north and east, with the least familiarity in the northeastern states (16.4%). Third, a small survey of 75 emergency responders and health professionals from Southern California revealed that a whopping 73.3% actually believed the BMD myth. Numerous organizations generally regarded as authoritative further amplified the misinformation, especially on the internet, where some content persists to this day. Unfortunately, belief in the BMD myth and VD hypothesis can lead to negative consequences, including misinformed risk-taking by those encountering snakes, unwarranted fear among snakebite victims, and inappropriate care delivered by misinformed or patient/family-pressured medical professionals. Our findings target health professionals and emergency responders as priority audiences for education.