An Aiken County woman was bitten by an apparent rattlesnake Saturday morning and was recovering at Aiken Regional Medical Centers on Sunday.
Karen Chiera, 42, of Beech Island, was “grazed” on the lower part of her calf by what her husband, Tony Chiera, believes to be a canebrake rattlesnake. He said the bite was more like a scrape by a single fang, and no signs of the other tooth in the bite mark was evident.
Tony said that Karen was bitten by a snake that she stumbled upon while doing some work in the backyard of their Johnson Lake Estates home around 9:20 a.m. He was working in the front yard when he heard her scream. He thought she had just seen a snake because several had been spotted near their home. When her screams intensified, he realized something was wrong.
“I saw in her face that she was in pain,” he said.
Chiera caught a glimpse of the snake, describing it as the color of light wood with a yellow tint along with dark markings on its back with a dark tail and rattle. He added that it was about four inches in diameter and five feet in length.
Chiera said that the usual 35 minutes it took to get to the hospital from their home was trimmed down to 15 as he rushed to get his wife medical attention.
The bite caused his wife’s leg to swell up from her toes to her hip, she had bruising, and she was vomiting, he said.
“The pain, in her words exactly, was excruciating,” he said. “It felt like her heart beat was in her leg.”
Karen was given an anti-venom and was held overnight to keep an eye on the swelling.
“Overall she is doing better, but today (Sunday) the swelling has doubled,” Chiera said.
He added that doctors have said that she will be fine, but the pain and swelling may last several weeks.
Susan Kneece, the registered nurse who was with Karen on Sunday, said this was only the second snake bite she has seen in her five years at the hospital.
Whit Gibbons, Professor Emeritus of University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Lab, said that from now until the fall is when snakes are prevalent in this area and that most of them only bite when they feel threatened.
“Most of them are harmless. Just watch where you step, and, if you do find a snake, just watch it and don’t bother it,” he said.
According to Gibbons, snake bites do not deliver a lot of venom, but they can be quite potent, causing symptoms like what Karen suffered.
He added that the best way to keep snakes away from a home or at least make it easier to spot one is to keep the area around the house clear of plants, rocks, logs or anything else in which they can hide. Gibbons said that using garlic, sulfur and mothballs to keep snakes away is a myth and does not work.
In Aiken County, there are two different rattlesnakes: the canebrake, also known as the timber rattlesnake, and the pygmy rattlesnake. Other poisonous snakes in the area include the cottonmouth, the copperhead and the coral snake.
He said in the coastal area of the state, there is the eastern diamondback rattlesnake that is sometimes confused with the canebrake, which has chevrons rather than diamonds lining its body.
“This is South Carolina; there are a lot of snakes here,” Gibbons said. “That’s just part of the territory.”
If someone is bitten by a snake, they should go to the hospital immediately and call ahead if possible.