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NEWS-JOURNAL (Daytona Beach, Florida) 29 August 03 Coral snake bites Deltona youngster
A 13-year-old boy at a Deltona bus stop was bitten by a 2-foot coral snake about 8:30 a.m. Thursday after picking it up, city fire officials said.
A guardian of the boy took him to a nearby fire station on Providence Boulevard, where antivenin was administered. EVAC later took the boy to a hospital.
City animal control officials took the snake to Carl Barden, who runs a DeLand business extracting venom from the snakes to make antivenin, said Kristina Knalson, Bardens girlfriend.
Late Thursday there was no official word on the condition of the boy, who was not identified. Knalson said she had heard the boy was doing fine.
Coral snake bites Deltona youngster

NEWS-JOURNAL (Daytona Beach, Florida) 30 August 03 Coral snake bite warns of dangers still slithering (Thad Rueter)
To many people, they are beautiful creatures, worthy of curiosity. But should you come across an Eastern coral snake -- with red, black and yellow rings on its body -- it's not a good idea to touch it or threaten it.
On Thursday, a 13-year-old boy at a Deltona bus stop was bitten by the poisonous snake after picking it up, according to city fire officials. He was treated with antivenin at a nearby fire station. The boy was in stable condition when he was taken to the hospital, said EVAC spokesman Mark O'Keefe.
Coral snakes, said O'Keefe, are "seldom aggressive unless startled, tormented or hurt." Yet they are among the most dangerous snakes around, he said.
Florida has 45 species of snakes, of which six are venomous, according to the Web site of the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Four venomous snakes are found in the Volusia-Flagler area: Eastern coral snakes; water moccasins, also called cottonmouths; and diamondback and pygmy rattlesnakes.
Coral snakes are "about the most likely to be encountered in typical neighborhoods," said Terry Farrell, a biology professor at Stetson University in Deland.
That's because of where coral snakes live. "They spend much of their time underground," or beneath leaves, Farrell said, "so they can persist around humans."
Feeding on other snakes and reptiles, coral snakes average 2 to 3 feet in length. Like other snakes, they often emerge after heavy rains as floods force them from their habitats.
When coral snakes bite, they often chew into their victim before injecting poison. They can, however, inject venom from a single strike without chewing.
After a coral snake bite, the venom can take a while to act, Farrell said. Though the venom attacks the nervous system, causing numbness and drowsiness at first, it can take "hours" for serious symptoms to spread, which can include blurred vision, slurred speech and seizures.
Paralysis and cardiac or respiratory arrest can follow.
A person bitten by a snake should call 911 or get to a hospital immediately, O'Keefe said. "We don't encourage anybody to put ice on a snakebite, or cutting or sucking the venom out," he said.
Fact file: Volusia and Flagler's three venomous species other than the coral snake:
· Eastern diamondback rattlesnake: Averages 36 to 72 inches; heavy-bodied with row of large dark diamonds with brown centers and cream borders on a brown body; found throughout state in pine flatwoods, pine and palmetto scrub.
· Pygmy rattlesnake: Averages 12 to 24 inches; thick body light to dark gray with black or charcoal blotches disrupting a reddish-brown stripe down the center of the back; found throughout Florida in low pine flatwoods, near lakes, freshwater marshes.
· Cottonmouth (water moccasin): Averages 20 to 48 inches; juveniles brightly colored with reddish brown crossbands on brown body, adults dark with faint banding or uniformly black; found throughout state in wetlands and waterways and occasionally on dry land.
SOURCE: Florida Museum of Natural History.
Coral snake bite warns of dangers still slithering

He was treated with antivenin at the fire station???
I never knew the Deltona FD was so well equipped....and I thought my department's EMS was progressive.
(I'm guessing that was a misstatement by the press)
Glad to hear the kid is doing ok though,
Chris

They didn't just chop the snake's head off? How refreshing.

Also refreshing - a couple of straightforward, informative news articles about a snake bite and venomous snakes. But the bit about the anti-venom stored at that firehouse? Hmmm.

-Joan

I drive through deltona several times a week and from what I've seen I would be impressed if they have anything more than bandaids and a garden hose at their fire station, quite the craphole, although I see more cottonmouths around there than anywhere I have ever been in my life.
Ryan