Ranger recovers after rattlesnake bite

Anthony Terry bitten while trying to remove poisonous snake from home

MIAMI – A park ranger who was bitten by a poisonous rattlesnake last week spoke about the experience on Friday.

Ranger Anthony Terry was bitten by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake while trying to get it out of his home inside Everglades National Park.

Terry has been working with snakes since he was 13 years old, but he says he never encountered what he did last weekend.

"I was holding the bag and as I was dropping the snake in, he caught me right here," Terry said while pointing to the finger where the snake bit him.

The finger is swollen and blistered and Terry says he's lucky to be alive.

"It was just my job to relocate him, and I was in close proximity moving him," he said. "About an hour later, it felt like a hammer that had been heated up. Every time my heart beat, the hammer would hit my hand. And then it got harder and harder until I started hallucinating, so I don't remember most of it," Terry said.

But before he started hallucinating, Terry was able to call Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and told them to have their Venom Unit ready.

"I want to be honest, I thought I was going to die in the hospital," Terry said.

These poisonous snakes are so lethal, you could die within hours of being bitten. But because Terry was treated in time, he survived the ordeal.

As for the snake, it's back in the wild.

When asked if he's go any names for his new friend, Terry smiled and replied, "Yeah, I've got some names for him."