Working in the yard during the pandemic? Watch out for snakes

Vicki Leary said she knew better than to go out in her yard at dusk Friday. But it was about to rain, and the lawnmower needed to be put away.

As soon as she touched the mower handle, however, Leary said she felt a sting – a stab – in her left ankle and knew right away it was a snake bite.

“It was absolutely terrifying,” she said Monday. “I jumped into survival mode, and I ran. Then I thought, 'What if the snake is running in the same direction I am?'"

Leary said she drove herself to a nearby hospital and spent about eight hours in the emergency department. She left with a swollen and painful ankle and a pair of crutches to help her walk.

She then sent a note to her neighbors telling them what happened and warning them to beware of copperhead snakes in the area.

"I just posted on Nextdoor as a public service announcement," she said.

The warning is spot on, according to Alvin Braswell, interim director of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

"It's warm, it's that season. Right now, they are out hunting food," Braswell said of copperheads.

He noted that Leary was outside during peak snake activity time.

“Copperheads are primarily active from around dusk to two or three hours after dark," he said.

Copperhead snakes are easy to identify; while they may vary in color, the pattern is always the same.

“To me, it looks like a Hersey Kiss,” said Liani Yirka, assistant director of Raleigh's Walnut Creek Wetland Park, noting the wide bottom spots that narrow to the back of the snake.

Yirka's best advice on avoiding a snake bite: "Watch where you put your feet."

Braswell said people can be more proactive by cleaning up their yards.

"If you limit the hiding places, you're less likely to have them," he said, adding that opossums also like to eat the snakes.

Leary said she'll be more careful in her yard and plans to avoid the backyard for a while.

“Not anytime soon," she said when asked when she would go out in the yard again. "I am absolutely not [going] at dusk. Put it that way, never at dusk.”