Now that snakes have come out of hibernation, two to three people a day are being bitten by the animals in Shenzhen, Zeng Chong, director of Shenzhen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine told Shenzhen Evening News on Sunday.

Experts advise residents to avoid areas with long grass and, if they must walk through such areas, to carry a long stick. Residents are also advised to wear thick cotton socks and long trousers when walking through greenery.

Mr. Zhou, who lives in Longhua Guanlan, was bitten in the hand by a cobra in his home. Despite sucking the poison out, he later felt dizziness, nausea and swelling. He was taken to Shenzhen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine where he is recovering.

Liang Zaijing, the leading snakebite expert of Guangdong Province First Aid Society said much of the province is short of serum to treat cobra bites, but Shenzhen has enough. The worst day in the city so far this year saw twelve people bitten in 24 hours.

Snakes are most aggressive in the summer as the hot weather makes them irritable.

The most recent fatal snakebite reported in the PRD happened last September when a man in Guangzhou was bitten by a bungarus multicinctus in his bed.

According to the paper, types of snake found in and around Shenzhen are the agkistrodon acutus, whose bites can cause strokes; the sea snake, whose bites can cause heart failure in extreme cases; the coral snake, whose bites can cause respiratory failure; the viper, whose bites can cause a cerebral hemorrhage; and the less deadly trimeresurus, whose bites can cause severe vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and blood in the urine.

If you want to know how to figure out early on whether a bite is poisonous, you can follow these guidelines.