Teen Pays Price After Capturing Venomous Snake (Photo)

A Florida teen paid the price after capturing a venomous cottonmouth snake and keeping it as a pet.

Austin Hatfield reportedly captured a water moccasin, or cottonmouth snake, in Wimauma, Florida. Rather than contacting a professional to deal with it, Hatfield took a liking to the venomous snake and chose to keep it for himself, Yahoo repots.

Hatfield was storing the animal in his pillow case when the snake bit him on the mouth.

“He took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him,” Jason Belcher, one of Hatfield’s friends who witnessed the incident, said, according to NY Meta. “He ripped it off his face, threw it on the ground and he started swelling up immediately. It was pretty frightening.”

Hatfield was rushed to the local Hospital in critical condition, but was later upgraded to good condition. He required several antivenom treatments, and the snake was ultimately euthanized by family members, Yahoo reports.

“[Doctors] said that they had to ventilate him so he could breathe because of the swelling,” Gina Bailey, the mother of Hatfield’s girlfriend, said, according to Reptiles Magazine. “And that was the first thing [I thought] — is he going to make it? “I was very worried.”

Though Hatfield was expected to recover from his injuries, he was faced with legal charges because he captured the snake illegally, Yahoo reported.

”Any type of venomous reptile, besides posing a danger to himself, he could pose a danger to other people, injure other people, that’s the whole reason that we have the [permitting] process,” Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman officer Baryl Martin said, according to Reptile Magazine.

It takes 1,000 hours of training under the guidance of a licensed expert to earn a permit to handle venomous snakes in Florida, Yahoo reports.

Sources: Yahoo, NY Meta, Reptile Magazine / Photo credit: NY Meta