In Turkey this week, a 2-year-old was bitten first by a snake and afterwards bit it to death.
According to Newsweek, on August 10, the toddler was in her backyard when neighbors heard her screaming. They discovered the youngster clutching a 20-inch snake between her teeth. The girl was brought to a neighboring hospital for treatment and observation after a bite mark was discovered on her lip.
“Our neighbors have told me that the snake was in the hand of my child, she was playing with it and then it bit her,” said Mehmet Ercan, the toddler’s father. “Then she has bitten the snake back as a reaction.” Ercan was away at work when the incident occurred.
Although the sort of snake is yet unclear, the child seems to be doing okay as of this writing. Since 12 of the 45 species identified in Turkey are regarded as venomous, there was some cause for concern.
More than half of the times someone is bitten by a poisonous snake, according to Dr. Drew Ricketts, assistant professor and extension wildlife management expert at Kansas State University, happen when the person tries to interact with the reptile.
“Most of our snake species, unless you surprise them or step really close to a snake, they are not going to strike at you most of the time,” Ricketts said. “If you are not fooling with the snake they typically are not going to strike at us.” He added that the best approach when encountering a snake is to go a different direction and leave the animal alone.