California child bitten by rattlesnake hiding beneath Amazon package
· Toronto Sun
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A young California girl landed in the intensive care unit after she was bitten by a rattlesnake while trying to retrieve a package.
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The three-year-old, identified in a GoFundMe campaign as Addy , ran to the porch on July 13 to pick up an Amazon padded envelope when the incident occurred in Santa Clarita, a community north of Los Angeles.
“Lynn (her mother) had told Addy about the package, and when Addy saw it, she excitedly ran to pick up her gift,” the girl’s dad, Manny Barajas, wrote in the fundraiser. “Tragically, a southern pacific rattlesnake was hiding under the brown padded envelope and bit Addy’s left hand.”
Antivenom doses did the trick
Lynn rushed her daughter to the parking lot of a nearby grocery store where she met ambulance and fire department personnel. The girl was taken to the hospital where she was given a dose of antivenom.
Addy was then transferred to the pediatric unit, where she received two more doses of antivenom. The young girl spent two nights in the hospital.
The three doses of antivenom seem to have worked, said Barajas.
“We’re happy to share that Addy is doing really well,” he wrote in an update Thursday. “The swelling in her hand has gone down significantly, and there is very little bruising left. Best of all, the movement in her hand and arm appears to be completely back to normal.”
It’s good news all around, her father wrote alongside a new photo of the girl smiling.
“It’s been a week since she’s been home, and all we can say is that she is one tough little cookie and the bravest little girl we know,” he wrote. “We’re incredibly grateful that she’s expected to make a full recovery.”
Snakes in Ontario
Closer to home, the Massasauga rattlesnake is the only venomous snake in Ontario, according to the provincial government’s website.
“The Massasauga is a stout-bodied rattlesnake, usually about 50 to 70 centimetres long,” the website said. “It is Ontario’s only venomous snake, though it will only bite in self-defence if it is threatened or harassed. It has a triangular head and a tail that ends in a small rattle that creates a buzzing sound when the tail shakes. The body is grey to dark brown with darker brown “butterfly” or “saddle-shaped” blotches down the back, with alternating blotches along the sides. The Massasauga is the only Ontario snake with a vertical (cat-like) pupil.”
The snake’s habitat is along the eastern side of Georgian Bay and on the Bruce Peninsula. Two small populations are also found in the Wainfleet Bog on the northeast shore of Lake Erie and near Windsor.
If bitten by a rattlesnake, the Ontario Poison Centre reminds people to r emain calm and Call 911. Move as little as possible as this will slow the spread of venom; wash the bite area with soap and water, if possible; remove any jewelry or anything tight from the bitten limb and immobilize the limb.
No one has died from a Massasauga bite in Ontario in more than 50 years. Only two deaths resulting from a Massasauga bite have been reported in the province. Rattlesnakes typically avoid humans, but will bite when they feel threatened, cornered or surprised.