Sayre Boy Recovering From Copperhead Bite

SAYRE, Okla. (AP) _ A 10-year-old Sayre boy is recovering after being bitten by a baby copperhead snake. <br/><br/>Zackery Merilatt and some friends had trapped the snake in a bucket Tuesday and were looking

Thursday, June 8th 2006, 11:09 am

By: News On 6

SAYRE, Okla. (AP) _ A 10-year-old Sayre boy is recovering after being bitten by a baby copperhead snake.

Zackery Merilatt and some friends had trapped the snake in a bucket Tuesday and were looking at it when it bit his right index finger.

His mother says pain and swelling began immediately and he was taken to a Sayre hospital. By yesterday the swelling was up to his elbow before finally being brought under control.

Despite the boy's experience experts say copperheads are the least dangerous of Oklahoma's poisonous snakes.

Kim Stanton with the Oklahoma Poison Control Center says there have been no deaths from copperhead bites in recent memory.

Still the snakes are dangerous and officials say anyone who is bitten should go immediately to a hospital.