Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 16, 1993 TAG: 9307160238
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MCCOY LENGTH: Medium
The man was released after being observed for two or three hours and was treated intravenously with antibiotics, Judy Tynan said.
He will return to the hospital today to be checked.
Tynan said a woman in her 30s from the Longshop-McCoy area was bitten last week, but was unsure if the snake was a copperhead. She had a great deal of swelling and was kept overnight.
The man bitten Thursday was sure the snake was a copperhead, Tynan said. These snakes have flat, triangular heads and are very copperish in appearance.
How you treat snakebites depends on the amount of venom the person took, Tynan said. It's also important that the victim try to remain calm.
"It's hard not to be stressed when this happens," she said, but it's important that treatment be obtained as soon as possible.
According to information from the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, only four of the 37 types of snakes in Virginia are poisonous. They are the timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattler, copperhead and cottonmouth.
Copperheads are found across Virginia. The saddles on the back of the copperhead are outlined in rich brown and the head is rusty-brown.
The extension service cautions that there is no way to handle a poisonous snake without risk.
Wear heavy leather or rubber boots when working or playing in snake habitats. Be alert when working around stacks of lumber, firewood, junk piles or other places that make good hiding spots for snakes.
The extension service recommends killing poisonous snakes with a long-handled shovel or hoe.
Snake-bite victims should be taken to a hospital as soon as possible - within 30 minutes of the bite. The bitten area should be packed with cold, wet cloths, but the area should not be frozen with ice applications.
Vic Marcussen, a district supervisor with the New River Valley Health District, said the unseasonably warm weather is drawing snakes out into the open. They lie in the sun and shed their skins as they grow.
While a snake skin may seem an irresistible trophy to a hiker or rock climber, Marcussen cautions that people should remember there's probably a snake nearby.
Nonpoisonous snakes such as black snakes also are being spotted in the area. Marcussen said someone in Radford reported an unusual number of black snakes on his property recently. The snakes were attracted to the heat generated by a pile of grass clippings, he said.
He recommends bagging clippings, mulching them or composting them to make the pile less attractive to snakes.
by CNB