Deer hunter says copperhead bit his head when it lunged from a tree in Mississippi
A Mississippi deer hunter says he was bitten on the head by a copperhead after the venomous pit viper took refuge in a tree this week.
Tyler Hardy and his family shared details of the attack on Facebook, noting the snake was about 6 feet up when it struck him Wednesday, 85 miles northeast of Jackson.
All involved say it’s uncommon for copperheads to climb trees in Mississippi, but Hardy believes it “slithered up the tree during the flash flooding” that has followed days of heavy rain this week.
The bite felt “like an ax hit him,” according to the Facebook updates.
“We were watching our feet closely, but obviously not my big head close enough,” Hardy said in an update posted by his mother, Valerie Hardy. The post had been shared 3,100 times by Friday.
“The pure strength in the strike is unreal, and then followed by the electrifying after effects of the venom. Lots of swelling, pain, throbbing, and burning sensation.”
Hardy said he felt the “massive impact” inches above his ear, as he and his dogs tried jumping over a “flooded ditch” on their way home, according to a Clarion Ledger article posted on the family’s Facebook page.
“As soon as I leaned forward it was, ‘Bam’,” he told the newspaper. “I backed up and shined my light to see what was in the tree and I saw the snake coiled up on a limb. It struck at me again and fell out of the tree that time.”
Hardy was taken to Neshoba General Hospital in Philadelphia, Mississippi, then flown to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, according to family updates. Treatment included multiple bottles of antivenom, Valerie Hardy posted.
He was discharged Thursday from the hospital, she wrote on Facebook.
“Everyone just be aware of where your feet land and obviously where that noggin goes. If you headbutt a copper head, his response is a little stouter,” Tyler Hardy warned on Facebook.
He did not say what became of the snake after it fell to the ground.
Copperheads are one of the most common snakes in the country and “the most likely to bite,” with a venom that is painful but rarely fatal, according to LiveScience.com.
“While they usually stay on the ground, copperheads will sometimes climb into low bushes or trees in search of prey or to bask in the sun,” the site says.
