That’s probably closer to to the facts. Rarely are poisonous snake bites fatal.
A young (about six or so) girl was camping last summer where I have often camped and was bitten by a copperhead at that campsite. She survived.
Copperheads and water moccs are not as poisonous as rattlesnakes. I have had 3 dogs bitten by copperheads or water moccs and none died. In fact none got very sick. The vet said give them benedryl and bring them in the next day for antibiotics. I had a friend who had a lab bitten by a rattler on the other hand. They nearly lost the dog, even tho he got him to the vet quickly. Ended up losing a chunk of tissue where the bite was.
susie
I stepped on a small copperhead when I was 16 while I was walking through the woods. It bit me near the arch of my foot through my tennis shoe. My dad called the doctor when I got home (I’d cut the snake’s head off and put it in my shirt pocket so he could ID it) and asked the doc what he should do. The doc asked him how far I’d walked to get home and he told him about 10 miles. The doc said to put some ice on it and bring me to town in the morning for a tetnus shot and some antibiotics. Guess it was one of those bites when the snake didn’t get its fangs locked. It never hurt, just itched.