A venomous water moccasin snake bit a Florida man in the face Saturday, but he is expected to survive.
The water moccasin had been in a pillowcase at the home of 18-year-old Austin Hatfield, who was
bitten on the lips, WFTS-TV reported.
Hatfield captured the snake in his girlfriend’s yard in Wimauma, Florida,
WTVT-TV reported.
His friend, Jason Belcher, told the station Hatfield had removed the snake from the pillowcase when the incident occurred.
"He took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him," Belcher said. "He ripped it off his face, threw it on the ground and he started swelling up immediately. It was pretty frightening. We've done a lot of stuff together. This is the one thing that scared me the most."
Hatfield’s condition was upgraded from critical to good after several antivenin treatments, the station reported.
Hatfield could face charges because he didn’t have a permit to have the venomous
water moccasin at his home, WTVR-TV reported.
The snake was euthanized for identification.
Alfred Aleguas, the managing director of the Florida Poison Information Center, said bites from water moccasins, which are not common to that part of Florida, are rare.
“Don’t play with them. Don’t handle them,” Aleguas told the station. “Don’t do anything. Stay away from — leave them alone. They’ll leave you alone.”