Snake Bites On The Rise In North Georgia

ATLANTA, GA — The number of snake bites in Georgia, particularly north Georgia, is on the rise this year and promises to keep climbing as the state enters the warm summer months.

Last year, the Georgia Poison Center recorded a record 466 snake bites. This year, before the busy season for bites even begins, there have already been about 60 recorded bites in the state, according to Gaylord Lopez, director of the center.

That's compared to 35 bites during the same period last year.

Lopez said Georgia's unusually mild winter is probably a large part of the reason. Georgia's first recorded snake bite this year was on Jan. 3 — a time when the cold-blooded reptiles are usually dormant.

"The metro area was very mild this winter with warmer temperatures — it was not cold, hardly at all," Lopez said. "Snakes don't necessarily hibernate, but their body metabolism does slow down significantly. If it's cold, they're not out and about and active, but if it's warmer, they will be."

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The vast majority of Georgia's snake bites come in north Georgia, according to Lopez. So far this year, 12 of the roughly 60 reported cases have been in south Georgia, and all of the others have come north of Macon, he said.

And being in the city, versus a more rural area, doesn't necessarily mean you're not at risk.

"When you look at how people are dividing and conquering land masses, whether it's developments or houses, you're going to be moving snakes out of their natural habitats," Lopez said. "In town, as opposed to outside the perimeter — I don't think there's any real difference we're seeing in terms of number of bites."

The venomous snakes in north Georgia are copperheads, moccasins, timber rattlers and an occasional diamondback rattler. Most of the 41 snake species that live in Georgia are non-venomous, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Among the venomous snakes, bites by copperheads are the most frequent. The good news, if it can be framed that way, is that the copperhead's bite is the least dangerous of all north Georgia's venomous snakes.

Their bites can cause intense pain and swelling but are very rarely fatal, Lopez said.

In fact, in the past eight years, there have been close to 2,500 snake bites recorded in Georgia, and only two of them were deadly. In both of those cases, the snake was a diamondback rattler, according to Lopez.

If you're bitten by a snake, Lopez says his advice is very simple — skip all the home remedies and get to a hospital immediately.

"The best antidote for a snake bite is a set of car keys," he said.

Wives'-tale treatments like applying tourniquets or "cut and suck" can sometimes cause more harm than good, Lopez said. Applying ice may actually speed the transmission of venom, and taking pain medications may mask symptoms that doctors need to see.

He also said snakebite victims shouldn't worry about trying to take a picture of the snake that bit them or trying to capture it. He told the story of one patient who was bitten, then bitten again by the same snake while trying to capture it.

In the mean time, he urges Georgians to stay alert, predicting that "snake bite season" in the state may extend all the way into October this year.

Photo by Tad Arensmeier, via Wikimedia Commons