Wait….What?
An 18-year-old Wimauma man who was bitten on the lip by a cottonmouth he was keeping in a pillowcase on his bed is recovering at Tampa General Hospital, officials said.
The snake, also known as a water moccasin, escaped around 11:45 p.m. Saturday and slithered across the stomach of Austin Lane Hatfield, said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. When Hatfield tried to recapture it, the snake bit him, Morse said.
A bite from a cottonmouth can be deadly with its venom causing massive swelling.
Hatfield was rushed to the emergency room.
He is going to survive. Hatfield caught the snake a few weeks ago and decided to keep it as a pet. You need a permit to keep that kind of snake, so he might be arrested whenever he gets out of the hospital.
