JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Bill Clarke was trying to protect a cat from a snake, when the snake bit him.
"He wanted to help the cat," says Clarke's friend and fellow cat rescuer, Kristen Brown. "He didn't want it to get bit by the snake so he got bit by the snake instead."
The cat had the snake in its mouth. Clarke tried to remove the snake but in the process, the snake bit his finger. Clarke didn't think much of it until he started to feel sick. He went to the hospital where they are trying to figure out if it was a King or a Coral snake that bit Clarke. Coral snakes are very dangerous.
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, the hot weather usually brings out more snakes. If you encounter a snake, FWC says to "stand back and observe it. Snakes don't purposefully position themselves to frighten people."
Clarke is expected to be okay but his arm hurts. According to his friend, Kristen Brown, doctors said "it was either a King snake that got him good, or a Coral snake that didn't get much venom into him." Clarke was given anti-nausea medicine, along with pain and anti-inflammatory medicine.
Brown, says there's a lesson to learn from Clarke's snake bite.
"We're in Florida. It's the rainy season," says Brown. "It rains, the grass grows, snakes come out. So check your yard before your kids go out to play."
