FREE LANCE-STAR (Fredericksburg, Virginia) 21 May 08 Spotsy girl recovering from foot-long copperhead's bite (Dan Telvock)
Nine-year-old Katie Davis might miss her SOL test today, but it's not because she doesn't want to take it.
It's because a venomous copperhead snake bit her.
The Chancellor Elementary School student was playing with her twin brother, Kyle, at their home in Pipe Run in Spotsylvania County Sunday when she felt a sharp pain in her left hand.
Next to her was a small pile of leaves and mulch, where her father, Mark Davis, eventually found the foot-long snake.
"It felt like my hand was on fire," Katie said from her bed at Mary Washington Hospital hospital, surrounded by "Get Well" balloons, flowers and stuffed animals.
Katie said she jumped after the bite and ran inside. She had no idea what had happened.
"We had thought it was a bee sting," Mark Davis said. "She's screaming that it's burning and stinging real bad. We saw it get worse in minutes and it started to turn blue or black."
Snake bites are rare. About 7,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year, according to the University of Virginia.
Katie's mother, Jeani Davis, drove her daughter to the local firehouse. They suggested she go to the urgent care center. When they arrived, she said the doctor told her that Katie needed to be at the emergency room.
"He called an ambulance," she said.
Katie will be fine, her parents said. The middle finger on her left hand is bruised and swollen from the bite, but doctors said she will regain full mobility.
She was in good spirits, and was getting a lot of attention. Even her school principal, Shawn Hudson, called to check on her.
"He wanted to know how I was feeling. He was worried also," Katie said.
The emergency room at Mary Washington Hospital sees about 20 snakebite victims each year.
About two-thirds of those victims have been bitten by venomous snakes, almost always copperheads, said Dr. Charles G. Penick, an emergency-room physician.
Penick advised that if you are bitten by a snake you know to be venomous, the important thing to remember is not to panic.
"There's no super rush," he said.
A venomous bite requires medical attention but is usually not life threatening.
Penick said he's been told by poison control experts that in the past 10 years they could not recall a single fatal snake-bite in Virginia.
At the hospital, the staff will offer pain medication and give the victim an injection of antivenom if the bite appears serious.
A bite by a nonvenomous snake should be cleaned but does not require a trip to the hospital.
If you're not sure about the snake, wait about 15 minutes to see if the wound site becomes unusually painful. If it does, the snake probably was venomous, and you should seek help, Penick said.
If it does not become painful, the snake was probably not venomous, and the injury can be treated at home.
As with any puncture wound, a snake bite also may require a tetanus shot, said Dr. Thomas G. Franck, local health director.
--Jim Hall
Jeff Cooper, a non-game biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said the northern copperhead is the only venomous snake in the Fredericksburg area.
"It is a pretty common snake," he said. "It likes forests and old farms, and they even live in neighborhoods."
The cottonmouth and timber rattlesnake also are prevalent in Virginia. Cooper said both of these snakes have diamond-shape heads and vertical pupils like a cat's eye.
The northern copperhead is reddish-brown, so it hides well in forest leaf litter. It has an hourglass pattern on its back.
The rattlesnake's rattler is one easy indicator, Cooper said, but sometimes they lose them. The timber rattlesnake is typically yellowish with some dark on the back. Usually, this snake is found in mountainous areas and in southeast Virginia.
A cottonmouth usually is dark. If its mouth is open, the inside is a cottony color. It is a thick snake. Usually, this snake is found in southeast Virginia.
The local department, at 1320 Belman Road, Fredericksburg, has snake guides for $2.
--Dan Telvock
Spotsy girl recovering from foot-long copperhead's bite