Venomous snake bites Pa. woman doing laundry in basement
The copperhead snake may have gone to woman's basement to find a dry place during all the rainy weather, state wildlife officials say.
A Berks County woman was recovering Wednesday after a copperhead snake bit her in an arm when she went into her basement to do laundry.
The Reading Eagle said the woman was admitted to Reading Hospital on Tuesday morning after she was bitten in her home in Mount Penn, and would be kept overnight at least.
Judy Reed "was in a lot of pain, there was a lot of swelling, and she had tingling in her arm,” her daughter, Danelle, told the newspaper.
State wildlife officials removed a two-foot-long copperhead from the basement and said the juvenile snake likely went there to find a dry place amid all the soggy weather.
The copperhead is the most common of the three venomous snakes found in Pennsylvania, according to the state Fish and Boat Commission.
Copperhead bites are rarely fatal, but require immediate treatment for associated pain and swelling, according to medical literature and the commission.