A Lawrence man has been lucky to survive after he was bitten by a rare snake on his property north of Lawrence on New Year’s Eve. Stephen King was feeding his birds in the aviary around 5am when he spotted what he thought was a juvenile carpet snake curled up in the corner of the aviary. Mr King, who said that he is use to dealing with snakes in his aviary, went to remove the snake when it struck him on the left index finger. While attempting to secure the snake he was struck on one of the fingers on his right hand. “It felt like a python sting although it didn’t react like pythons do,” said Mr King. “We photographed the snake before putting it into a bag and released it on our way into Lawrence to go fishing for the day. “I felt ok, so was not too worried about the bites and my wife and I went fishing. “During the morning, both of my hands started to swell up, so we packed up and my wife took me to Grafton Base Hospital, where I was admitted straight away. “They had a bit of trouble identifying what kind of snake it was and it was finally identified as a rare ‘Stephens Banded snake’. “I was given Tiger Snake antivenene (which is the same category which this snake falls into), but it had no affect as it was too long after I’d been bitten. I was transferred to the ICU unit where I spent the next 24 hours, trying to thicken my blood again. Mr King said that he was still having problems with his hands, which could be ongoing. “I did everything wrong (by washing the wound and not seeking medical help immediately etc) and I just want to alert the public to be aware and look out for snakes.”