Warmer Weather Means Snakes are More Active-What to Do if You’re Bit

You're taking a leisurely walk one evening after supper. As you walk down the sidewalk you feel something like a bee sting, but you look down and see a snake. What just happened? Did you get bit? What are you supposed to do?

It's easy to panic when something like this happens. You're trying to make sense of the incident while at the same time thoughts race through your mind on what the next step is for you to get this taken care of.

In a story on yahoo.com, a similar situation happened while a resident of South Carolina was on Hilton Head Island. She was walking back to her condo when she felt the sharp pain of a bite, almost like a bee sting. Then something else happened. A second bite and then a third. A copperhead had done the damage.

“It felt like someone stuck an electric knife in my leg, like a volt of electricity,” she told The Island Packet. “The pain went up my leg.”

Panic is usually the first thing that sets in. You want your mind to logically go through the process of what happened and what you should do next but more times than not that doesn't happen.

According to the yahoo.com story, Here's what it will feel like if bitten by a copperhead-If you are bitten by a copperhead, the bite will be immediately painful, and symptoms will begin soon after the bite. Symptoms include swelling, pain, shock, nausea, tingling and numbness and anaphylaxis.

The best thing to do is to stay calm. Be sure you don't eat or drink anything. You'll want to remove any jewelry from the area that was bitten as swelling may occur. If you can get a picture of the snake that bit you or at least take note of the size of the snake and the pattern of the snake to help identify it. Of course, last but not least, get to the nearest emergency room.