BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — Snakes are everywhere. Different kinds are all over south Alabama and are starting to come out of hibernation.

They rattle; they slither, and they look right into your eyes if you’re close enough, and have the ability to attack you. In our area, there are three types of snakes to look out for.

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Wildlife Solutions Inc. Director of Operations Michael Niemeyer said the three types of snakes are highly venomous.

“Around here most prevalent is the cotton mouth,” Niemeyer said. “That’s a snake we see daily, in our day-to-day activities, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes as well as pygmy rattlesnakes.”

Each of those is considered extremely venomous or even deadly if bitten by one.

We spoke with Coby Mccool, who got bitten by a cotton mouth this time last year when he tried to move what he thought was a regular water snake.

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“That was a strong bite that felt like I laid my hand on the table and someone hit it with a hammer, and it was immediate, powerful,” Mccool said. “I jumped back tried to walk it off, probably shouldn’t have done that, after about five minutes, the swelling within probably two minutes my hand was enlarged and within about five to 10 it was all the way up my shoulder.”

Mccool was rushed to a hospital and it took three days to treat the bite, but Niemeyer told News 5 that he and his team find these venomous snakes the most right here in our area.

“Snakes are pretty adaptable,” Niemeyer said. “You can find them in garages. We find them in well-manicured or non-well-manicured yards, log piles. People leave tin laying around, things like that. That’s harborage; you’ll find them there.”

The Eastern Diamondback snakes are often found in the Lillian, Elberta, Loxley and even Spanish Fort areas. As for the cotton mouth and pygmy rattlesnakes, they can be found just about anywhere in our area.

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Niemeyer said if you come across a snake, there are some things you need to know.

“Just admire it from a distance, don’t try to catch it, and majority of people that are bitten by snakes are either trying to catch it or kill it,” Niemeyer said. “There are of course some that just step on them and those things.”

If you have an encounter with a snake on your property, call an animal expert, or if you happen to get bitten by one, seek medical attention immediately.

You can learn more about snake encounters in Orange Beach at the Gulf State Park Nature Center. Click here to sign up.

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