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Jul 1, 2009 4:18 pm US/Central
Grandview Woman Bitten By Venomous Snake
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
According to animal experts at the Fort Worth Zoo, this is the time of year for snakes to start coming out from under the brush. One Johnson County woman found that out the hard way on Tuesday night, when she was bitten by a venomous snake.
Toni Wiley was bitten just outside her home in Grandview. And she's not alone. Doctors at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth, where Wiley is being treated, said that they are seeing a lot of patients with reports of snake bites.
Fort Worth Zoo experts explained that three types of venomous snakes are typically found across North Texas: copperheads, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes. The one that bit Wiley was a copperhead.
"Usually there's something that goes on to drive them out of that normal habitat and bring them to some place they're not comforable, which is our backyard," said John Kast with the Fort Worth Zoo.
Wiley is going to be okay, but she said the bite was very painful. "I had let my dogs out the door and I was walking out toward the yard, and bam. Something just bit me," she said. "It was sharp pain."
After the incident, Wiley's cousin killed the snake with a shovel. They took it to the hospital as evidence.
Doctors and zoo experts are warning everyone that this is snake season, and the potentially dangerous animals are not only found in the country. Snakes like cool, moist areas, and they are on the move, always looking for a more suitable environment. Everyone, no matter where you live, should be mindful of their surroundings.
If you would like to prevent snakes, and therefore snake bites, clean out piles of wood in your yard, trim shrubs, tall fields and creekbeds.
And what if you are bitten by a snake? "Get to a hospital as quick as you can," said Dr. David Smith, "because they will either have a
supply of the anti-venom that is available or they can get you
transported to a place that does have the appropriate snake bite venom."
Snake bites are rarely fatal, doctors said, but children have see more serious injuries due to their smaller size.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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