Showers Bring Snakes And Snake Bites Two county residents were
bitten by venomous snakes last week. Shady Grove Adventist
Hospital treated two Montgomery County residents for venomous
snake bites last week, the latest in a summer that has seen an
uptick in snake bite cases. “On average, we usually have one or
two poisonous snake bites a summer,” said Dr. Jonathan Wenk, an
emergency department physician at the hospital. “This summer
we’ve already had had five or six bites.” Both patients were
treated with an antivenom and were doing fine, Wenk said late
last week. Weather, like the rain that continues to flood the
region this week, is a factor in the increase, said Scott Smith,
a wildlife diversity ecologist with the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources, who specializes in snakes. In the case of
last week's two bites, rain from Hurricane Irene likely drove
the snakes out of their natural wooded habitats. "The recent bad
weather caused flood waters that forced the snakes into areas
they otherwise wouldn’t b