Copperhead Snake Bite Hospitalizes Somerset County Resident

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A venomous copperhead snake bit a Bridgewater Township resident outside her home sending her to the hospital on the night of July 21, officials told Patch.

It was close to midnight when the resident, who asked not to be named, was dogsitting her friend's dog. She took the dog outside in the yard off Brown Road in the Martinsville section of the township when she stepped onto her paved driveway in flip-flops.

It was pitch black out and she said she didn't see the snake lying on the blacktop.

"It got me in both feet," said the resident.

She didn't have a chance to see the snake before it slithered away.

"The bite was so painful. It felt like being struck by lightning twice," she told Patch. "It was the worst pain you can imagine."

Once she got inside the house, she said it "felt like both feet were standing on hot coals. They were burning and I couldn't walk on them."

Luckily her kids were awake and drove her to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville.

She was hospitalized for four days.

"They saved my life which I am grateful for. If I hadn't been treated I wouldn't have made it through," said said.

Even after returning home, it took her days to walk and she ended up back in the emergency room on July 28 because her legs were swollen.

She contacted Patch to share her story because she said she "just wants people to be aware and really safe. If a pet or child was bitten it would be bad."

She reported the incident after she got home to NJDEP Fish & Wildlife on July 27, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Senior Press Officer Caryn Shinske.

The next day, an NJDEP Fish & Wildlife Venomous Snake Response Team member searched the resident’s property and neighboring properties for copperhead snakes, but found none, said Shinske.

Portions of Bridgewater Township are in the known range of copperhead populations in New Jersey.

"It is an uncommon snake in its range (state species of special concern) inhabiting NJ’s northern region extending as far south as the Sourlands of Hunterdon and Somerset counties northeast through localized areas within Somerset and north through western Bergen County," according to the NJDEP.

Residents living in areas where venomous snakes occur are advised to wear closed-toed shoes and use a flashlight when outdoors after dark.

The Northern Copperhead Snake likes to live in rocky fields, berry thickets, woodlands, farmlands, and even old mulch piles.

Copperhead snakes are two shades of copper or a reddish brown, the lighter background color with the darker pattern forming an hourglass shape, wider bands on the sides of the snake and narrower bands across the back.

The head is a solid copper color. Young copperheads have a yellow-tipped tail.

"No one has ever died from a copperhead bite in [New Jersey. These snakes will not chase you, but they will defend themselves if they feel threatened, according to the NJDEP.

If you encounter a Copperhead snake, keep your distance.

These snakes birth to 6-17 young in mid-August to early October.

If you see a Copperhead snake contact the NJ Fish & Wildlife snake hotline at 1-877-927-6337.

Have a news tip? Email alexis.tarrazi@patch.com.