Watch where you step, Snake season arrives in North Texas

A 9-year-old boy in Colleyville is recovering after doctors say he was bitten by a copperhead snake.

The family’s backyard is familiar territory for Barrett Love, but a normal adventure last Saturday took a painful turn.

“I was like looking to get a football that had landed somewhere over there, and then I was over here near the lamb’s ear. Then something bit me,” he said, pointing to a backyard flower bed.

“My mom called us when we were coming home and just said Barrett has been bit, and of course, as a parent, you’re like, it’s a hornet or a wasp or something. You know, put some ice on it or whatever,” said Nick Love.

But within minutes, the wound continued to swell. Barrett complained of pain shooting up his leg. And by the time Nick and his wife, Charlie, arrived home, they knew they needed to get him to a hospital.

“It was very swollen very quickly, so we took him to Baylor because it was closer,” said Charlie.

Doctors determined that Barrett was likely bitten by a copperhead snake.

They administered antivenom and transported him by ambulance to Cook Children’s, where he was monitored for a couple of days.

Cook said Barrett is one of two snake bite patients they’ve treated this month.

They advise those who suspect their child has been bitten not to panic and to call 911.

Don’t try to suck out the venom. Elevate, but don’t dress the wound.

Doctors urge patients to go straight to an emergency room.

Randall Kennedy with Dallas Fort Worth Wildlife Control says he’s responded to several venomous snake calls recently, particularly for copperheads and rattlesnakes.

Other native species to Texas include pit vipers and cottonmouths, also known as water moccasins.

While he couldn’t find one in the Loves’ backyard, he told them their flower beds, thick with ground cover, give snakes a place to lie in wait.

“You really want to lollipop the bushes. If you can see the ground and kind of the main stalk there, that’s better. If the snakes can’t hide. They’re not going to want to be there, so clean up the bottom side of the foliage if you can, and that’s certainly going to help,” said Kennedy.

“Never even considered that it would be hiding ground for venomous snakes,” said Nick.

Soon, the Loves will be replacing their current landscape with something that doesn’t provide a hiding place, making the yard safer for the whole family, including Barrett, once he’s back on his feet.

Experts warn that snakes are most active at dusk and dawn.

They also say young snakes, like the one believed to have bitten Barrett, pose the biggest threat. They’re more likely to bite and are unable to control how much venom they deliver.