CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If it seems like there have been more venomous snake bites than usual this year – you’re not wrong.
The Carolinas Poison Center reported bites are up about 67 percent over the same time period in 2018.
The center’s medical director, Dr. Michael Beuhler, said there’s not just one reason why.
“It may because there are more people being bitten,” he said. “There might be that there's more snakes … or people got out and did yard work earlier in the year than previous years. Or it may be people are calling us more.”
[ [RELATED COVERAGE: Snake bites hurt, but so does seeing the medical bill] ]
Beuhler said most snakebites happen near people’s homes – rather than on hiking trails or in more remote places.
South Charlotte resident Donna Cameron said she was bitten by a copperhead as she stepped out of her car.
“This was literally hopping out of the car to go hug a neighbor,” she said. “I never saw it. I got out of my car and stepped right on it.”
A neighbor came and killed the snake.
Cameron went to a nearby hospital, where she said she was told she was the sixth snakebite victim that night alone.
For days, she couldn’t put weight on her foot, and when she did, Cameron said the pain felt like 1,000 needles shooting through it.
Even two weeks after the bite, her foot remains swollen and inflamed.
And while she’s doing better, she wants others to be vigilant – especially those with small children.
“With our little ones and everyone, you’ve just really got to be diligent,” she said.