ATLANTA — With spring in full swing and everyone spending more time outdoors, one thing we should all be looking out for is snakes. More specifically, the venomous variety.
Snake season starts in the spring when the cold spell finally passes and, just like the rest of us, the ectothermic — cold-blooded — critters slither out of their winter burrows to soak up those cozy sun rays.
They’re easily camouflaged in your garden, your bushes and even the wide-open yard where your grass is growing just a little taller than normal because you forgot to mow — again. So it’s easy to stumble upon them and inadvertently provoke a bite if you’re not keeping your eyes peeled. That goes for your pets, too, so watch out for them.
But you shouldn’t worry about most snakes. Only seven of Georgia’s 47 species are venomous, according to the Department of Natural Resources. That includes Eastern diamond-backed, timber and pigmy rattlers, eastern and Florida cottonmouths, the copperhead and coral snake.
The coral snake and the Eastern diamondback mostly inhabit South Georgia. The copperhead, however, is by far the most common species in the metro area. And, aside from the “unknown snake,” it’s the most commonly reported bite.
It’s also the prime suspect in a bite last month that left a 2-year-old hospitalized in metro Atlanta, according to Dr. Gaylord Lopez, executive director for the Georgia Poison Center. The child was bitten while playing in a yard and later required antivenom but is doing OK, he said.
But contrary to popular belief, you should not use a tourniquet, apply ice or try to suck out the venom if you’ve been bitten. The same rules apply if your pet has been bitten.
“All it takes is a molecule of snake venom to be a problem,” Lopez said. “When the venom gets into your system, you’re talking about tens of thousands of molecules. Say you’re able to suck out, you know, 10 or 100 molecules. You’ve still got 900 still floating around.”
The other practices can cause more tissue damage, he warned. And for the love of common sense, do not, under any circumstance, resort to electric shock.
“You don’t hook up someone to a car battery and try to shock the venom out of their system,” Lopez said.
Instead, the most important thing you can do is to get to a hospital — and fast. If you’re in the wilderness, call for help, stay calm and keep the wound stable and elevated as you wait.
“The hospital evaluation is all about assessing the wound, and in a lot of cases, you’re worried about infection at the site,” Lopez said. “Remember, a lot of these victims don’t even see the snake, so they need to be observed. They need to be monitored.”
