Young girl bitten by brown snake

BE CAREFUL what you step on, is the message Dee-Ahn Leonard, 8, would like to give other children after she was bitten by a potentially deadly brown snake on the doorstep of her Rock Valley home last week.

Dee-Ahn had just returned from swimming with her younger sister Kerry when she stepped on what she thought was a stick lying across the front door.

It was almost a fatal step for the youngster, who received three bites to her left ankle.

“I didn’t really get a chance to see it, but it was a big one,” Dee-Ahn said. “I just cried out for Nana. I had to go to hospital and stay overnight (for observation).”

Dee-Ahn’s grandmother, Elaine Leonard, who has just moved to the area with her grandchildren from Perth, wasted no time getting to the hospital.

Luckily, although a swab revealed it was a brown snake that bit her, it was a dry bite, meaning none of the deadly venom was injected into her body.

Snake experts have warned people to be extremely careful this time of year as many snakes are on the move, looking for somewhere to hibernate for winter.

The newly-arrived Mrs Leonard, who admits that until a week ago she was a ‘snake novice’, has now read extensively on the subject. “I know more now, but hopefully there won’t be a next time,” she said.