Western diamondback rattlesnakes. Photo: Paul Ratje/AFP by means of Getty Images
It’s (sss)spring, which suggests there’s a greater possibility of finding a snake wriggling around Houston.
Why it matters: About 7,000 to 8,000 individuals in the U.S. are bitten by a poisonous snake each year, leading to about 5 deaths, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Yes, however: While Texas is home to 105 types and subspecies of snakes, just 15 are possibly unsafe to people.
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department representative Lerrin Johnson informs Axios it’s a “rarity” for individuals to be hurt by snakes.
Threat level: There are 5 type of typical poisonous snakes in the Houston location, according to Spencer Greene, director of toxicology and going to emergency situation doctor at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood.
- Those are the eastern copperhead, the northern cottonmouth, the Texas coral snake, the wood rattlesnake and the western diamondback rattlesnake.
Between the lines: Snakes are seldom discovered near metropolitan locations and inside the 610 Loop, Greene informs Axios.
- Most of his snake-bite clients were bitten outside the loop, particularly north of the city.
Be wise: Greene recommends versus approaching snakes and says to prevent walking barefoot or with flip-flops in the evening.
- Keep turf cut brief and attempt to prevent messy stacks of wood or particles, as snakes search for locations to conceal.
- Since snakes are most active when looking for victim, Johnson recommends determining what’s drawing in rodents to your property if you’re seeing more of the reptiles.
Editor’s note: This story has actually been upgraded to eliminate U.S. Forest Service assistance on what to do if you get bitten, such as keeping an impacted limb listed below the level of the heart. Some physicians, consisting of Greene, now recommend raising the limb.
