How you can protect you and your pets from falling victim to snakebite season

MIDLOTHIAN, Va. -- Skye, a four-year-old Belgian Malinois, is an amazing affectionate dog, according to her owner, William Taggart, who affectionately calls Skye his best buddy.

"She treats all of us human beings in the house as furniture. When you sit down in our house, you got to watch out because she’s going to be ‘boop’ right up in your lap!" Taggart said.

A few weeks ago, Taggart was working on his boat while Skye slept in the grass outside their Midlothian home when he realized something was awry.

“At one point I just noticed she was walking around, and oh my gosh she’s limping," Taggart said. "A few more minutes go by and her leg was puffing up like crazy, like it was like a football.”

Things got bad enough that Taggart decided to rush Skye to a nearby emergency veterinarian.

“It got pretty bad. She was not right mentally; she seemed very out of it and was breathing hard," he said. “My daughter went with me and we were both flipping out, like what the heck is this?"

The vet was able to quickly identify the problem, and testing confirmed that Skye had been bitten by a copperhead.

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"Every one of our neighbors around here has seen copperheads and told us about them, but I’ve actually not seen one. I didn’t see this one. It was really surprising to me," Taggart said.

Experts say we are currently smack in the middle of snakebite season in Virginia. From April to late October, snakes of all stripes (and those without them) are more active as more humans and pets are increasingly active outdoors.

Dr. Ruddy Rose is the director of the Poison Center at VCU Medical Center and said copperheads make up a bulk of the human patients who come in with snake bites.

"I would say 95% of the bites we have in Virginia are copperheads. Certainly in Central Virginia, it’s almost all copperheads," Dr. Rose said. “It’s really important to remember that almost all snake bites are in self-defense. The snakes are not after people; we’re not on their menu.”

Dr. Rose said many of the bites they see are on someone's hands or lower legs, usually after reaching or stepping in a place where a snake is seeking cover.

"Your tool shed, your remote garage, you go walk in the wood, you go gardening in a place you haven’t been in a while: that’s what snakes like — cover. They don’t want to be out and exposed," Dr. Rose said.

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There are over 30 different species of snakes in Virginia but only three are venomous: copperheads, cottonmouths, and canebrake rattlesnakes.

Dr. Rose said you should never try to pick up a snake to identify it, but if someone is bitten, you can try to identify whether or not it is venomous from a safe distance.

“The classic characteristics of a non-venomous snake in Virginia is a snake that has a round pupil and a nostril," he said. "A pit viper or venomous snake has a heat-sensing pit, it has an elliptical pupil and a triangular-shaped head. If they open the mouth [and you] see the fangs, you’re too close.”

Dr. Rose said to seek medical attention if you believe someone has been bitten by a venomous snake.

There are several signs of a possibly venomous bite:

• Puncture marks at the wound
• Redness, bruising, or swelling around the bite site
• Pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting

"We advise against harmful first aid. So we don't recommend cutting and sucking [the venom], we don't recommend tourniquets, we don't recommend packing in ice. You need to try to get back where you can get help, but you want to sort of keep it elevated and move it as little as possible."
Other than a still-healing bite mark, Skye is doing much better now. Taggart is thankful for the two emergency veterinarians they took Skye to in the aftermath of the bite and that she did not have to receive anti-venom.

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After that night of panic, the family is extra cautious around leaves and stick piles in their yard.

"My wife is that way big time. She now since this bite will only come out with big, super high, thick boots — like fireman boots — that we have in the garage," Taggart said with a grin. "But yeah, I’m now much more on the lookout and concerned than I was before.”

The VCU Poison Center shared these graphics on snake bites and other summer prevention reminders:

Poison Center at VCU Medical Center

Poison Center at VCU Medical Center

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