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Copperhead attacks Stafford woman
After a week in the hospital, victim says she still has trouble walking.
Date published: 8/1/2008
BY JIM HALL
Linda Fellers hopes to be released from the hospital tomorrow, one week after being attacked on her deck by what’s believed to be a copperhead snake.
The snake bit the Stafford County resident on the left leg near the ankle, causing instant pain and swelling.
“He hit me full force,” Fellers said. “It was whump.”
The incident happened about 8:30 p.m. last Saturday, when Fellers and her husband, Jack Fellers, were headed to the backyard to watch a fireworks display, visible down the Potomac River at Fairview Beach.
The Fellerses have lived at Marlborough Point on the water for 14 years. They’ve seen plenty of snakes on their property, but until last week they had never been bothered by one.
Earlier that evening, they had been clearing brush and doing yard work in preparation for a party for their Sunday school class. At dusk Jack was still inside the house, when Linda went to get him to watch the fire works.
She said she did not see the snake on the second step of her deck.
“He went for me,” Fellers said.
Fellers said the snake was brown, seemed about 6 feet long and about 2½ inches around. Doctors at Mary Washington Hospital examined the bite mark and said it was almost certainly from a copperhead, Fellers said.
Fellers went one direction after the attack, and the snake went the other. The snake was not captured.
Fellers said first her left leg and then her right leg began to swell and turn black and blue with red blotches.
“It was excruciating,” she said.
A rescue crew took her to the Fredericksburg hospital, where doctors in the emergency department were con cerned that the snake’s poison would worsen her pre-existing breathing problems.
They gave her six vials of an antivenom and a host of other medicines, she said, and watched her closely for 24 hours.
“If they didn’t put into motion what they did, I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
Mary Washington’s emer gency department treats about 20 snakebite victims each year. About 15 of those victims have been bitten by venomous snakes, almost always copperheads, accord ing to hospital personnel.
The northern copperhead is the only venomous snake in the Fredericksburg area, according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Fellers said yesterday that her legs are still swollen and bruised, and that she is still having trouble walking.
She said she and her husband will remove some of the shrubs near their house. Less cover for the snakes, she said.
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433 jhall@freelancestar.com
Read more stories about Stafford
Date published: 8/1/2008
Most recent reader comments:
copperheads in Stafford
(posted by
Grumpy1
, Aug. 1, 2008 10:47 pm)
Bushes next to houses are particularly attractive to snakes, especially in and around their root systems. When removing 4 bushes in front of my home we killed 12 small copperheads that had been living in the root system that had grown up to the foundation of my home. I asume it was warmer there in the winter. We no longer have plantings next to the house.
no antivenon for my puppy
(posted by
pooh
, Aug. 1, 2008 9:59 pm)
I used to live in Spotsy and my chocolate lab was bitten on the head by a copperhead. His head was swollen to twice its normal size . The vet gave him anthistimines and antibiotics........within 8 hours he looked almost normal.
jaeshuan...wow..Bristow
(posted by
BusDriverMom
, Aug. 1, 2008 8:32 pm)
still quite a bit country...but not for much longer unfortunately. The whole area has grown sooo much....
does it really matter...generally
(posted by
hellokitty79
, Aug. 1, 2008 8:02 pm)
when you spot the snake, it's already too late, no matter which kind it is....they camouflage so well, so that by the time you see them it's already too late....Hope everything goes well for Mrs. Fellers...gives me the willies thinking about it 'cause I hate snakes, but am always looking for them, but I know, they BLEND so well!! Best wishes, truly
no copperheads
(posted by
jaeshuan
, Aug. 1, 2008 7:29 pm)
heh when i was a teenager i used to catch em in bristow right outside of manassas. you can easily identify venomous snakes by the pits in their face and the vertical pupils. copperheads are usually docile in nature and will only attack when provoked. Im wondering if she stepped on the snake.
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