FLORIDA TODAY (Melbourne) 29 August 04 Coral snake attacks girl, 10 (Victor Thompson)

Melbourne: A 10-year-old girl was flown to Holmes Regional Medical Center on Sunday after a venomous coral snake bit her on the finger, authorities said.

Wickham Park rangers killed the snake after the attack.

Battalion Chief Greg Anglin with the Melbourne Fire Department said the snake bit Elaine Smith's right index finger about 11:22 a.m. in the county park.

The hospital gave the girl anti-venom to combat the snake's powerful toxins, Anglin said.

Coral snake venom attacks the central nervous system within minutes and can lead to paralysis or death. It is one of nature's most powerful venoms.

Bites from this snake, whose body has red, yellow and black bands with a black snout, are rare.

The snake spends most of its life burrowing in the ground.

Anglin said the girl will be monitored at the hospital for at least 24 hours.

(Information from the Texas A&M University's Natural Toxins Research Center was used in this report.)
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