Snake bite sends teen to hospital
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- A high school basketball player is being treated in a Tampa hospital after being bitten by a snake, and emergency workers who treated him say the reptiles are on the move due to the recent rain.
Jonathan Yokel was playing basketball Thursday night when the ball rolled into some bushes. When the 16-year-old reached won to get the ball, he was bitten by a 14-inch pygmy rattlesnake on his right hand.
Yokel was given 14 vials of antivenin and other medicine and was in fair condition Saturday. He could be discharged Sunday.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, this small snake is very aggressive. Its bite, although not usually fatal, is extremely painful.
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