DALLAS — Slithery serpents season is back, y'all. It's warming up, so the snake appearances are becoming all the more common in North Texas.
You might remember WFAA reported on the man who found a rattlesnake on his back porch couch. Now, there are reports from Midlothian of a man being bitten by a copperhead taking residence in his toolbox, as well as a baby cottonmouth sneaking its way into a woman's shoe closet.
Southlake DPS shared the tale of its response to a resident who called animal control, and since it was a weekend, the department was dispatched. Southlake DPS said their own resident snake expert, officer Barrett (who is "a little bit country"), confirmed the snake was a cottonmouth and not a rat snake or non-venomous snake.
Southlake DPS used tongs to bag the snake and relocate it to Bob Jones Park in a heavily-wooded area, where it can live life "away from shoes," the department said.
Another venomous snake encounter was recently shared on social media in Midlothian. According to Facebook posts from Matt Morris, his neighbor went through his toolbox and was bitten by a copperhead. Luckily, he suffered what is called a "dry bite," meaning the snake does not inject its venom into the victim.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife statistics, nearly half of all venomous snake bites are "dry."
There are four venomous snakes in Texas and the stories referenced in this article featured three of those four. There's the rattlesnake, cottonmouth snake, copperhead snake and coral snake.
At the beginning of this month, a Texas rattlesnake handler died after being bitten at the Rattlesnake Roundup in Freer. One of the organizers of the Rattlesnake Roundup said that DeLeon was performing and handling rattlesnakes in front of a crowd at the time he was bitten. DeLeon had over 20 years of experience handling snakes.
After reporting on the rattlesnake story in Decatur, WFAA spoke with wildlife expert Brandi Nickerson. She told WFAA at the end of April that Texans can expect to have more snake encounters as the temperatures started to heat up across the state. You can learn more about protecting yourself and identifying snakes in this story.