Community Corner
Beware of Snakes When Doing Yard Work
More than 300 bites were reported in Georgia during 2011.
For many people, the warm weather of summer means being outdoors and enjoying hiking, camping, and other outside activities. That also means sharing time with critters such as mosquitoes, spiders and snakes.
CNN reports that more than 6,000 poisonous snake bites occur each year in the United States, but fewer than 12 of those bites result in death from snake venom poisoning, according to articles in The American Family Physician.
“Snake bites are unfortunately a common event in Georgia and the Southeast. In 2011, the poison center was contacted about 379 snake bites to people, and there were probably many more that didn’t get called in,” says Dr. Robert Geller, medical director of the Georgia Poison Control Center at Emory University. Geller says that’s a typical number of snake bites compared to previous years.
