This is part one of a two-part story about venomous snakes in Bastrop County.

One of the most beneficial and plentiful reptiles in our area is the snake. Out of the dozens of species found locally, only four are venomous and the reality is, they don’t want to bite you and you don’t want to get bit. So why does it happen?

“Snakes are looking for a combination of three things: Food, water and shelter,” said Andy Gluesenkamp, state herpetologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife. “If your area provides those things, you’re going to have snakes.”

In Bastrop County, non-venomous snakes outnumber venomous snakes almost six to one. Venomous snakes in the area include the coral snake and four pit vipers: copperheads, cottonmouths and two kinds of rattlesnakes.

Gluesenkamp said spring and summer are when most people encounter snakes.

“This is the peak time of the year for sightings. School is out, the weather is nice and people are outdoors,” Gluesenkamp said.

A few hours before sunset on Friday, July 30, five-year old Abbey Bundick joined her extended family for a weekend visit to her grandmother’s house near Red Rock. Minutes after arriving she went outside and down the steps of the front porch to greet her cousin Caleb, who was outside playing.

“Her smile changed when she stepped off the porch,” said Mandy Bundick, Abbey’s mom. “She started crying. Everyone thought her cousin had hit her with the stick he was playing with.”

After going back into the house, Bundick and her niece, Misty Hill, were consoling Abbey and looking at Abbey’s leg where she was hurting.

“Misty said that it looked like a snakebite,” Bundick said. “We were still trying to figure out what happened when Caleb spotted a snake.”

Coiled by a rosebush at the corner of the porch steps was a 16-inch broad-banded Copperhead, a pit viper common to this area. The snake had struck Abbey between the anklebone and the heel.

Snakes avoid areas of activity and use a primary defense of camouflage to avoid being seen. When approached, their first defense is to freeze and this is why people get bit – they don’t see the snake until they are in its defensible zone and the snake strikes.

Bill Brooks, a self-taught herpetologist has more than 40 years experience in catching, keeping and educating the public about reptiles. He relocates venomous snakes that have been captured and he keeps snakes as pets and for speaking engagements.

“Venomous snakes are more likely to stand their ground than non-venomous snakes,” Brooks said. “Their venom is quite a deterrent and they know it.”

Brooks said snakes are cold-blooded animals and their metabolism is totally dependent on their temperature – the warmer it is the more they move and the more they need to eat.

“The pit vipers in this area – rattlesnakes, Copperheads and Cottonmouths are lay-and-wait feeders,” Brooks said. “Once they detect a small animal trail they will lay and wait until the animal comes back down the trail.”

Frogs, toads, rodents, lizards, other snakes and even birds make up the diet of most snakes.

Bundick said they realized what had happened to Abbey after Caleb found the snake, which was quickly killed and identified.

Abbey’s bite was turning yellow and purple and the pain was getting worse. A call was made to EMS and the family met an ambulance in Rockne. Abbey was taken to Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin.

“The Copperhead is the least dangerous of all our venomous snakes,” Brooks said. “Less than 0.5 percent of the bites result in fatalities. They are smallish snakes, have smaller fangs and their venom is not particularly strong. Still, people need to go to the hospital when bitten.”

Successful treatment of a venomous snakebite is dependent on several factors including the species of snake, where on the body the victim was bitten and how much venom was injected. The overall health of the victim and the duration of time before treatment was administered can also be factors.

Snakebite victims should remain as calm as possible – moving around and panicking can cause venom to spread more quickly through the blood and lymphatic channels.

Victims should immobilize the bitten limb if possible and remove any rings or bracelets.

Abbey handled the ordeal very well. She was released from the hospital on Sunday, two days after the bite and was walking by Wednesday.

Another Outcome

In May of this year, 35-year old George Yancey was killed by what is thought to be a 6-foot timber rattler.

After stopping on Old Potato Road near Paige, Yancey had walked into tall grass where according to relatives the snake bit him between his thumb and index finger and actually got stuck on his hand before he could remove it.

Yancey’s wife Sandy immediately called an ambulance but Yancey was having problems standing and fainted at one point. He was airlifted to Brackenridge hospital in Austin where he died.

“There were a lot of unanswered questions about this death,” Brooks said. “It is odd for a pit viper to hold on like that. Timber rattlers are slow to anger and bite, but compared to diamond-backed rattlesnakes, when they do bite, it’s often bad.”

Pit vipers inject venom through the use of long, hinged, hollow fangs that allow for tissue penetration and injection of venom.

Occasionally in defensive bites, the action can be a stab as opposed to a bite, called a dry bite, which occurs without venom injection.

Texas pit vipers carry a hemotoxic venom that acts on skin and muscle tissue and can cause extensive damage due to necrosis.

“The timber rattler can have a few more neurotoxic qualities in their venom than a diamond-backed rattler,” Brooks said. “Both are mainly hemotoxic but snake venoms vary.”

Brooks said that when outdoors, people need to take precautions and to be aware of the wildlife around them.

“When hiking or outdoors, stay alert. Don’t put your hands where you can’t see them. Don’t stick your hands in holes,” Brooks said. “If you see a snake, leave it alone. Half of the reported bites are illegitimate, that is, people are trying to kill, catch or even play with the snake.”

Gluesenkamp emphasized that most snakes are non-venomous and pose no threat to humans or pets.

“I encourage you to clearly make the distinction between harmless snakes and venomous species in your article, “ Gluesenkamp  said. “In general, snakes are beneficial organisms and a healthy snake population, venomous or not, is generally an indicator of a healthy ecosystem.”

The second part of this two-part story will talk about preventing snake bites by reducing habitat for snakes around houses and barns and information from a local veterinarian on snake bites and animals.