Gardeners, Watch Out for Copperheads

WASHINGTON - Local gardeners are being warned to look out for copperhead snakes.

And where can they be found might surprise you.

"Anywhere there are frogs," according to Mike Hurley of ACS Wildlife and Snake Management, an animal nuisance control company in the metro area.

Copperheads are rare in urban and suburban gardens, but if they do turn up, they are dangerous.

On July 28, Steve Spitz of Waldorf, Md., was struck three times by a copperhead while weeding his garden.

But a memo about copperheads from the D.C. Department of Recreation advised gardeners in the city, "This snake is not venomous, but it's bite is very painful."

In fact, copperheads, also known as "Highland Moccasins," are poisonous although their bites are not usually fatal. Hurley says their venom causes extremely painful -- and dangerous -- swelling.

Spitz spent a week and a half in the hospital as a result of his bites.

If you are bitten by a venomous snake, the American Red Cross says you should do the following:

• Wash the bite with soap and water.
• Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart.
• Get medical help.

Don't:

• Put ice on the bite.
• Don't put on a tourniquet.
• Don't make any incisions in the wound.

(Copyright 2006 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)