Florida man recovering after bite to face by deadly snake

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Admit it: I had you at "Florida man."

Florida man recovering after bite to face by deadly snake

Posted: 7:54 a.m. Wednesday, April 22, 2015

By Laurel Lee

WDBO - Orlando

WIMAUMA, Fla. — A Florida man is in the hospital after being bit in the face by a water moccasin.

Austin Hatfield, 18, had caught the deadly snake in his girlfriend’s backyard in Wimauma, near Tampa. ... He then put the poisonous reptile in a pillow case and kept it on his bed. ... He held the cottonmouth and practiced kissing it on the head, until one day, the snake had had enough.

One of Hatfield’s friends, Jason Belcher, was there the day Hatfield was bitten on the lip, recalling, "he took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him.” ... "He ripped it off his face, threw it on the ground and he started swelling up immediately," Belcher explains.

That’s when the teen bolted out of his bedroom and began yelling that he needed to get to the hospital.

[LiberalEsto]

1. Kissing the snake on its head...

sounds like a potential Darwin Award winner

[Paper Roses]

4. Darwin Award was my first thought. IQ test in order.

Followed by warnings and a good dose of education.

[Xyzse]

2. I admit it... You got me.

[Paladin]

3. Is the snake alright? (nt)

[Ptah]

5. From the linked article:

The snake was killed so that it could be identified and
the correct antivenom could be administered.

[Paladin]

6. I don't normally side with cottonmouths.

Guess there's a first time for everything......

[NV Whino]

7. They had to kill the snake to identify it?

That must fall under Florida Man #2

[kairos12]

8. Snake to be defended by NRA. National Reptile Association