CARTER COUNTY, Mo. — A 50-year-old man died after a snake bit him over the weekend in Southeastern Missouri.
It happened near the Current River, about 120 miles southwest of Cape Girardeau.
The Carter County Sheriff says a copperhead snake bit the man and he later died of a heart attack.
The coroner’s office says the bite was a contributing factor in his death.
Copperhead venom isn’t very strong, according to Tama Sawyer, Director at the Poison Control Center.
She says there have only been two or three recorded deaths but that because of the heat, there have been more cases of snake bites.
“The snakes are going to be where we want to be. They’re going to be close to that water and in the underbrush and in the cooler areas where we want to be in this kind of heat,” Sawyer said.
If bitten, Sawyer recommends not trying to do anything yourself but instead go to the emergency room and call the poison control hotline.
