VICTORVILLE DAILY PRESS (California) 06 April 04 Girl recovering after snake bite (Emily Berg)
Lucerne Valley: A 9-year-old Lucerne Valley girl is home and recovering after a Mojave green rattlesnake bit her ankle while she was trying to shoo it away from her dogs, officials said Monday.
Katland Metcalf was lucky she was wearing sandals when the snake, about 28 inches long, bit her foot. Her sandal strap appeared to take the brunt of the bite. There was only one fang mark and slight swelling, but no other signs of the venom moving quickly through her system, said Capt. Joshua Sprague, of the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Firefighters responded to the call at the Moss Mobile Manor on the 38300 block of Highway 247 about 5:51 p.m. Sunday, Sprague said.
The snake was inside the Metcalf's property and coiled up near the family's dogs, not far from the house, Sprague said.
Metcalf's father had killed the snake by the time firefighters arrived and an air ambulance took the girl to Loma Linda University Medical Center where Dr. Sean Bush treated her.
"Fortunately she had a very minor, minimal envenomation," said Bush, an emergency physician who specializes in venomous bites and stings.
Metcalf went home Monday, Bush said.
Metcalf is the fifth patient Bush has treated so far this season for a snake bite.
"It's already a busy season," he said.
Bush expects the season to remain busy partially due to the wildfires last fall.
"Snakes are displaced out of their homes and wandering down into neighborhoods," he said.
The good news this year is that there is plenty of antivenin, Bush said.
Girl recovering after snake bite