Florida Man Hospitalized After Trying to Kiss Cottonmouth Snake

No news story that starts with an 18-year-old trying to kiss a venomous snake is going to end well. Austin Hatfield of Wimauma, Florida learned that the hard way.

Back in 2015 Hatfield was hospitalized after he tried to kiss a cottonmouth and it bit his face. He had caught the snake in his girlfriend's yard and was keeping it in a pillowcase.

A friend says, “He took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him. He ripped it off his face, threw it on the ground and he started swelling up immediately. It was pretty frightening.”

Doctors treated Hatfield with antivenom and reattached his lip.

Austin Hatfield