Copperhead lurking in toolbox bites man fumbling around for wrench, Texas photos show

All Mark Holton wanted was a wrench, but he got a finger full of needle-like teeth instead.

The Texas man was doing maintenance on a circular saw at his home near Midlothian on the morning of May 3, he told McClatchy News. But as he fumbled around his toolbox, feeling for the right tool, he unknowingly angered a snake that had slithered into a drawer.

“Suddenly I saw and felt something hit my index finger,” Holton said. “I opened the drawer the rest of the way and there laid a copperhead snake.”

The three-foot venomous snake sat coiled among the screwdrivers and wrenches, ready to defend its newfound home, photos shared by Holton’s neighbor, Matt Morris, show.

A tiny bit of blood ran from Holton’s finger. He’d clearly been bitten, but the snake apparently injected little or none of its painful, flesh-destroying venom.

“My neighbor Matt loves to catch and relocate snakes so I called him and told him about the snake,” Holton said. “He came over and suggested I go see a physician, but I wasn’t feeling any pain and decided against it.”

While “dry bites” do happen, they are rare, and experts warn that people should “always assume it’s going to be an envenomation” when bitten by a venomous snake.

“I was very lucky,” Holton said.

Holton’s home backs up to around 400 acres of woods, he said, meaning he’s seen plenty of snakes both dangerous and harmless over the years. But they tend to respect his space.

“I have had many encounters with snakes, but never (had) one strike me,” Holton said.

Midlothian is about 30 miles southeast of Fort Worth.

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