POOLESVILLE, Md. -- A Poolesville man bitten by a poisonous snake took matters into his own hands after the attack. No, he didn't kill the creature. He freed it in the wild.
Sam Pettengill, 36, was bitten on the finger Sunday after he picked up the pencil-sized snake from its hiding place at the Kunzang Palyul Choling Buddhist Temple.
Instead of going immediately to the hospital after the attack, Pettengill went to a grassy area, prayed and then released the snake.
A Maryland Natural Resources expert told Pettengill that the snake was most likely a copperhead. After four rounds of antivenin, he is expected to recover and return to the temple soon.
This is not the first time Pettengill has befriended a ground-living creature. He's been known to buy crickets and worms just to set them free.
