CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A poisonous snake scare in a residential area of University City, and the whole thing was caught on a nest cam.
A woman was taking out her trash when a copperhead bit her. It’s definitely not the type of situation you see sneaking and slithering up on you on an average Thursday night.
“It was really scary,” said the woman’s husband, Erik Candiani.
What was supposed to be a normal night of taking out the trash for Erik Candiani and his wife Tami took a terrifying turn.
“And I just started hearing screaming, and I don’t usually hear that from my wife,” Candiani said. “So, I ran around the corner to see what was going on, and she had been bitten by a snake, but I didn’t know what it was or what kind. It had gone underneath the car.”
A copperhead had taken a bite out of Tami’s foot.
“It was about 22 inches long,” Candiani said. “I got her away from the situation and started trying to find out what snake it was so we could tell the hospital because at that point, I didn’t know how bad it was.”
Luckily, she’s doing well. But the situation obviously could’ve turned out much worse.
“She got really lucky,” said Candiani. “Because apparently, it only punctured with one fang, one hit her shoe and the other went into her foot.”
Whether you’re out doing yard work or simply just taking a stroll around the neighborhood, it’s the time of year that you can never be too safe from a slithering snake.
“It was a residential area, so we aren’t out in the country,” Candiani said. “We are actually by University. I’ve never seen a snake there before, but we are kind of new because we are from California. so the whole snake and copperhead thing is relatively new for us.”
“If it’s 40 degrees or warmer, they’re out,” said Grover Barfield, of Carolina’s Reptile Rescue. “When you walk outside, keep in mind you’re now in their environment.”
As the weather continues to warm up, the snakes continue to come out.
“You’ll find them everywhere,” said Barfield. “If you go outside at night, have a flashlight or a head lamp, don’t go out barefoot, in sandals or in flip-flops. Wear closed-toed shoes.”
“We aren’t gonna go out without shoes or boots from now on,” Candiani said. “Because she was wearing flip-flops, and luckily one of the fangs hit her flip-flop, so it could’ve been a lot worse.”
We’re coming up on the tail-end of mating season for snakes in North Carolina. Copperheads are the most common venomous snakes in the state.
If you do happen to get bitten by a snake, Barfield says to first try to quickly get a photo of it for identification purposes without wasting too much time. Then, he says to get medical help at a nearby hospital with anti-venom immediately.
Tami received a tetanus shot and is doing well.
