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Copperheads are plentiful; bites costly and painful
2nd snakebite victim of spring is OK; experts urge caution
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Ginger Workman shows the three bites marks on her left ankle she received from a juvenile copperhead while walking her dog with a friend near her apartment. - photo by SARA GUEVARA | The Times
John Jensen has some good news and some bad news about copperhead snakes.The bad news: They’re abundant and often found in suburban areas.The good news: Their bite isn’t likely to kill you.“Copperheads can live in a small little wood lot right next to a bunch of houses and seemingly do fine,” said Jensen, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources. “... They’re common, and they can tolerate a lot of disturbance.”Ginger Workman of Gainesville certainly knows that’s true.She’s the second copperhead victim in Hall County this month, bitten Monday night while in the parking lot of her apartment complex behind the Gainesville movie theater.“Everybody keeps saying: ‘Were you hiking? Were you in the woods? Were you by the lake?’ And no, I was behind my car in the parking lot at the apartment complex,” she said.Gaylord Lopez, director of Georgia Poison Center, said snakebite calls are definitely up this year statewide.