78-year-old Earl Perkins told his niece that he thought he was bitten by one of his cats while he slept on his couch. Turns out, he was actually bitten by a copperhead snake.
Laura Sammons says her uncle was sleeping on the couch and reported feeling a weight on his stomach. When he awoke, his arm was hurting. He decided to go down the road to her house in hopes that she might have an idea of what bit him since it was clear it was far more serious than a cat bite.
“I told him it was a snake bite,” Sammons said.
She called an ambulance and Perkins was taken to an area hospital.
Perkins never actually saw the snake that bit him.
Kentucky Reptile Zoo curator Kristen Wiley says this type of incident is very rare.
“I can’t imagine any reason a snake would get into a bed on purpose,” she said, “I think it would just be an accident on the snake’s part.”
Wiley says snakes generally will only bite a person if they feel threatened. She said it’s entirely possible that the snake in this case did feel threatened if Perkins rolled around in his sleep or startled due to a bad dream.
Wiley adds that most copperhead bites do not cause systemic damage but can be very painful and may cause localized tissue damage.
Perkins is expected to make a full recovery.
His family says they have urged him to move out of his home as it is falling into a state of disrepair. However, he has shown no interest in doing so.
Perkins was also bitten by a snake in his home last year but this recent bite was more serious.
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