KVOA (Tucson, Arizona) 09 September 06 Baby rattlesnakes pose hidden, deadly danger (Sandy Rathbun)
We have a safety advisory from the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center: Beware of snakes.
You can be bitten by a poisonous snake without having seen or heard it.
It happened to 7-year-old Aubrey Staten while she was playing in her back yard in Thatcher.
Aubrey says a baby rattlesnake bit her on her toe.
It's healed today, but Aubrey says you should have seen it three weeks ago.
She says, "It turned purple, black and blue," and her leg swelled up to her knee.
Aubrey says she and a friend were looking at something in a flower bed and she stepped closer.
She says, "I put my foot in that (under a rock) to get a closer look, and it got me."
Aubrey never saw a snake, so her parents thought a scorpion stung their daughter.
David Staten, Aubrey's father, says, "We figured when Aubrey said it was a pink thing, that's what it must have been."
But, when Aubrey's dad called Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center, the center told him her symptoms sounded like a snake bite.
Within an hour, she was helicoptered to University Medical Center.
David Staten says, "She could have died."
Aimee Staten, Aubrey's mother, says, "You don't think about snakes. Snakes are out there in the desert and you wear boots. (they're) not in your backyard."
Now that they know, this family has advice for your family.
Aimee Staten says, "I think the best thing for bites and stings is call poison control immediately because they're experts. They know what to tell you to look for."
We asked Aubrey what she wants to tell other kids about all the snakes that are out now.
She says, "Be careful."
The poison center says, in the past three weeks, three Southern Arizonans were bitten without realizing they'd been bitten by a snake.
The center says one possible reason is that baby rattlesnakes are abundant right now. They don't have rattles, and, because of the rain, there's more brush for them to hide in.
The emergency number for Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center is 1-800-222-1222.
Baby rattlesnakes pose hidden, deadly danger

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