Five-year-old bitten by 10-inch rattlesnake he believed was stick

SISTERS, Ore— A central Oregon boy who suffered a bite wound after mistaking a snake for a stick was released from a hospital Wednesday.

The 10-inch rattlesnake bit Jacob Gurney, 5, on the thumb Tuesday.

Gurney then spent more than a day in the intensive care unit at St. Charles Medical Center, where he was treated with an antivenin solution.

“He is going to be fine,” his mother, Chris Gurney, told The (Bend) Bulletin.

“He’s not going to have any side effects that are going to be long term.”

Jacob’s hand remained black and blue, and was swollen to about twice its normal size, his mother said Wednesday.

The incident happened when Jacob reached for a stick without realizing it was a rattler.

After the bite, the boy cried as he ran into his house near Sisters to show his mother the fang marks.

While waiting for paramedics to arrive, Jacob’s father, Jim, and a neighbor spotted the snake and destroyed it.

The paramedics gave Jacob the antivenin solution immediately.

Baby rattlers are often more dangerous than adults because they don’t control the amount of venom they release.

Ken Enoch, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District’s assistant fire chief, said there are lots of snakes in the area, but it’s the first bite he has heard of in 24 years.