Wesely Chapel boy recovering from Cottonmouth bite

A little boy is recovering after being bitten by a Cottonmouth snake in his backyard on Monday.

He was playing on a trampoline with a friend when a ball they were tossing around bounced off and landed on the ground below them.

The boy, who was barefoot, chased the ball through the grass and stepped on the snake.

"He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," snake expert Chris Wirt said. Wirt owns All Animal Control of Tampa Bay.

The boy's parents rushed him off to Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, but he was later transferred to Florida Hospital Tampa because the facility had the antivenin needed to help him.

Wirt says in the case of a snake bite, call 911. Dispatchers can then direct you to the best hospital for that scenario.

The boy got two antivenin treatments and on Wednesday, after three days in the hospital, his mom told FOX 13 he was still in pain, but he’d been cleared medically.

"He is just happy to be able to go home," she said.

Experts say the family made a really smart move. After killing the cottonmouth, they took a photo of the snake, which helped the hospital identify it.

Wirt says your chance of a snake encounter is higher than usual because they are especially active this time of year. The particularly warm weather is drying up ponds, so snakes are on the move.

Although you can treat your yard with certain chemicals to keep snakes away, Wirt reminds us, this is Florida, and snakes are just part of the deal.

"As much as we're building and taking over the wooded areas, we are going to have snakes," Wirt said.