A 13-year-old boy was hospitalized on Saturday in serious condition after being bitten by a snake in northern Israel, medical officials said.
According to the Magen David Adom ambulance service, the youth said he was bitten on the leg Friday night in a town in the Mevo’ot HaHermon Regional Council.
At around 6 a.m. Saturday the service first received a report of the incident, and dispatched medics to the scene. MDA said its medics took the teen in serious condition to the Ziv Medical Center in Safed.
Snake sightings are more common in the summer months in Israel. This year, there was also a spate of injuries caused by venomous bites.
At the end of June, two people were seriously hurt after being bitten by snakes in separate incidents within an hour in the north and south of Israel.
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Earlier in June, an Israeli soldier was left in serious condition after he was bitten by a snake at a military base in northern Israel.
A similar incident occurred in May when a soldier in the Israeli Air Force’s elite Shaldag commando unit was also left seriously ill from a snake bite.
A few days before that incident, two men in their 30s and 40s were seriously hurt after being bitten by venomous snakes near Netanya and Michmoret, according to medical officials.
Local vipers, Vipera palaestinae, are the most common venomous snakes found in Israel.
They grow to an average length of 90 centimeters (36 inches) and are mainly nocturnal. Their venom contains a hematoxin that damages blood circulation and the lymphatic system. They generally feed on small rodents, toads and birds.
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