Beware of snakes if you have outdoor plans this holiday weekend.
There are three recent cases involving snakes biting children.
That includes a pitcher here for spring training!
The results can be horrifying.
Rattlesnakes bit two young boys in Scottsdale in two separate incidents.
One is home now, the other has been in the hospital all week.
"We just appreciate everyone's thoughts, concerns, prayers, everything," said Colorado Rockies pitcher John Axford. "It's been pretty overwhelming."
A message of gratitude from Axford after a rattlesnake bit his 2 year old son Jameson in the foot twice outside the house his family is renting in Scottsdale for spring training. Axford tweeted pictures of his son, one with a smile on his face, the other eating cake. Jameson is not the only little one that's been a victim recently.
"I got bit by a rattlesnake," said 4 year old Lucien Reif.
He showed us where a rattlesnake took a bite out of his left foot.
"Right here," he said.
Just outside the front door of his house, also in a north Scottsdale neighborhood.
"I saw the snake I was the first one to see it," his 5 year old sister Vivian said.
She caught a glimpse of the rattler.
"It kind of looked like a baby snake, it was a teenager," she said.
The kids were home with a babysitter. Mom and dad rushed home.
"It took a moment to sink in," said his dad Zack Reif. "It was two puncture wounds, one from each fang."
After two 3 day trips to the ICU and multiple doses of antivenom, Lucien started doing better.
"The hospital guys helped me," he said. "Thank you to the fireman for helping me."
Lucien couldn't walk for a week, but he stayed positive.
"Still dealing with the trauma," said his mom Emily Reif. "So thankful he's okay."
"It's just one of those wake up calls," his dad said. "We're just glad that everything seems to have turned out okay for us."
A rattler also bit a 15-month-old boy in the face in Tonopah last weekend. He is now recovering.
If you're having an Easter egg hunt this weekend, don't hide those eggs under bushes or rocks, behind flower pots or under pools toys. Snakes especially like to curl up in shady damp area.
