text: An 18-year-old Wimauma man is recovering at Tampa General Hospital after he was bitten on the lip by a cottonmouth he was keeping in a pillowcase on his bed, officials said. 
   
   The snake, also known as a water moccasin, escaped from the pillowcase at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday and slithered across the stomach of Austin Lane Hatfield, said Gary Morse, spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. When Hatfield tried to recapture it, the snake bit him, Morse said. 
   
   A bite from a cottonmouth can be deadly; its venom usually causes massive swelling. 
   
   Hatfield was rushed to the emergency room. 
   
   “His condition has improved today and he is expected to recover,” Morse said. 
   
   Hatfield had captured the snake sometime last week and was illegally possessing it, Morse said. Because cottonmouths are venomous, a state permit is required to keep them. 
   
   The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating and Hatfield could face charges, Morse said. 
   
   The snake was captured and euthanized so a proper identification could be made, he said. 
   
   A spokeswoman for Tampa General said Tuesday that Hatfield and his family asked that no more information be released about his condition. He and his family declined to be interviewed or share photos, the spokeswoman said. 
   
   The cottonmouth, a member of the viper family, gets its name from the cotton-white interior of its mouth. When threatened, the snake often coils and opens its mouth. They are the only venomous water snakes in Florida and are usually found in swamp-like habitats. Adult snakes are dark in color and can grow to between 2 and 4 feet. They have broad, triangular heads and a dark stripe that runs through their eyes. There is a deep pit between their eyes and nostrils. 
   
   Those who come across the snakes should give them a wide berth, Morse said. 
   
   “It really doesn’t want to eat you, but it will protect itself,” Morse said. “Cottonmouths have a reputation of being somewhat skittish when you get near them and they will readily defend themselves.” ||||| A Florida teenager is recovering after being bitten in the face by a water moccasin. 
   
   The bite happened last Saturday, according to investigators with Florida Fish and Wildlife, two days after Austin Hatfield, 18, captured it in his girlfriend's yard in Wimauma. 
   
   One of Hatfield's friends, Jason Belcher, was there when it happened. Belcher said the snake was initially in a pillow case. 
   
   "He took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him," he said. 
   
   The snake lunged at Hatfield, biting him on his mouth. 
   
   "He ripped it off his face, threw it on the ground and he started swelling up immediately," Belcher said. "It was pretty frightening. We've done a lot of stuff together. This is the one thing that scared me the most." 
   
   Hatfield was in critical condition, but was later upgraded to good condition, a Tampa General Hospital spokesperson said. 
   
   Family and friends said Hatfield needed several antivenin treatments. 
   
   "[Doctors] said that they had to ventilate him so he could breathe because of the swelling. And that was the first thing [I thought] -- is he going to make it?" said Gina Bailey, the mother of Hatfield's girlfriend. "I was very worried. I know that these snakes are very, very poisonous." 
   
   Hatfield did not have a permit to possess the venomous reptile, and he captured the Water moccasin illegally, according to FWC spokesperson Officer Baryl Martin. "People without the experience shouldn't be handling these types of animals." 
   
   "Any type of venomous reptile, besides posing a danger to himself, he could pose a danger to other people, injure other people, that's the whole reason that we have the [permitting] process," Martin said. 
   
   Investigators said the snake was euthanized in order to identify it and treat the bite. 
   
   Water moccasins are also knows as "cottonmouths" because of the white coloring inside their jaws. They are typically two to four feet long, heavy-bodied snakes with heads wider than their jaws. 
   
   They are pit vipers that have heat-detecting pits between their eyes and nostrils. They can detect temperature differences as small as one degree from their surroundings -- which allows them to strike their prey very accurately, according a fact sheet from the National Zoo.
target: – "People without the experience shouldn't be handling these types of animals." This revolutionary statement of the obvious on venomous snakes comes to us by way of a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rep in the great state of Florida, where one Austin Hatfield might take that to heart. As MyFox Tampa Bay reports, the 18-year-old captured a water moccasin in his girlfriend's yard last month. A few days later, he had the reptile in a pillowcase on his bed. Says a friend: "He took it out, put it on his chest and it was acting funny, and it jumped up and got him." Specifically, it bit Hatfield on the mouth. "He ripped it off his face, threw it on the ground and he started swelling up immediately. We've done a lot of stuff together. This is the one thing that scared me the most." Hatfield's face swelled dangerously, but he's recovering. The snake, also known as a cottonmouth, was euthanized so Hatfield's bite could be treated, adds the Tampa Tribune. Further, Florida requires a permit to possess such animals, and Hatfield had no permit.