It was a dangerous case of mis-snake-en identity.
An Australian hiker had to be hospitalized after being bitten by a snake he believed to be non-venomous while bringing it home to show his kids. Local serpent catcher Ray McGibbon detailed the painful ordeal in a post on his business’s Facebook page.
“The hiker is feeling extremely lucky,” the reptile wrangler, who runs the serpent-corralling service Southern Highlands Snake Catcher, wrote. “It could have ended up a lot worse than it did.”
According to McGibbon, who retold the story with the victim’s permission, the incident occurred on November 1 while the unidentified adventurer was hiking in Hill Top, New South Wales, 7News reported.
He reportedly saw what he thought was a diamond python, a nonvenomous species of constrictor that resides on Australia’s east coast, and decided to bring it home to show the kiddos.
Disaster struck after the critter bit the man on the hand. However, as he assumed the animal was non-venomous, the Aussie initially didn’t think anything of it, until later when his health took a turn for the worse.
According to the Facebook PSA, the poor fellow’s hand swelled up and he started “violently vomiting” for three hours straight, prompting him to visit the emergency room.
That’s when medics contacted McGibbon so they could positively ID the culprit.
He identified it as a broad-headed snake, a venomous species that closely resembles the non-venomous diamond python, which uses constriction rather than toxins to kill its prey.
McGibbon explained that the snake’s bite packs a powerful neurotoxin, which has the potential to incapacitate or even kill the victim.
“They did find traces of venom in the hikers system,” explained the snake catcher.
Despite his illness, the hiker was sent home within six hours and has since made a full recovery.
McGibbon explained that “during that time I collected the snake from his residence got the location to where they found the snake and returned it back to its habitat Saturday morning.”
The trip made the snake hunter realize just how fortunate the patient was to be alive. “After myself doing the trek & how long it took to walk in & back the hiker was extremely lucky to make it out after being bitten & envenomated & no first aid,” he exclaimed.
Here’s hoping that getting “once bitten” will make the hiker “twice shy” about picking up random serpents in the future.
In fact, the man hopes he can use his ordeal as a cautionary tale to warn the public about the perils of handling strange snakes.
“He was happy for me to share this story for educational purposes & hopefully people will take note & not follow the same mistakes he did,” explained McGibbon in his Facebook public service announcement. “So please if you see a snake or any reptile in the wild, admire it in its own habitat. Take photos or a video & please DO NOT try & capture it & or take it home.”
This is perhaps especially crucial in Australia, which is reportedly home to 21 of the 25 most venomous snakes in the world.
In October, an 11-year-old Melbourne girl elicited online gasps galore after she was filmed playing with an Eastern brown snake — a species that’s responsible for the most snake-bite fatalities Down Under.
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