Dead snake bites man

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - There were some scary moments for a homeless man in downtown Mobile Tuesday when he was bitten by a venomous snake.

It happened near the intersection of Marion and Jackson streets near a homeless encampment. The 41-year-old man was playing with the decapitated head of what’s believed to have been a cottonmouth snake when he was bitten.

He initial refused medical treatment, but paramedics had to be called back after the man began to show side effects from the venom.

A friend of the man described the incident.

 “I saw it swimming down along the creek and everything. And, I ran down and hit it with the machete and killed it and brought it up. He picked the head up and stuck himself right in the finger with it,” the man’s friend said.

The friend said the man purposefully stuck his finger in the snake’s mouth.

“He put his finger in there and all of a sudden the nerves, I guess, and it bit down on his finger.”

The men discarded the snake by throwing it back into the creek.

The victim was transported to USA Medical Center for treatment. He was treated with anti-venom and released.