SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – File this one under "no good deed goes unpunished."
Caylee Kapa, 13, was at Stony Creek Metropark with her 10-year-old brother and other friends when they saw a small snake near the nature center.
"We looked at it and seriously there was no rattle. My brother was going to step on it and I tried to save it," Caylee said.
Turns out that baby snake was a Massasauga Rattlesnake and it chomped down on Caylee's finger for her trouble.
"It was excruciating," she said.
Her finger started to bleed and then her whole hand swelled up. The snake was a baby and it's rattle wasn't developed yet so no one realized the teen had been bitten by Michigan's most venomous resident.
She went to Beaumont Children's Hospital and doctors there didn't take any chances. They did the blood work and started administering anti-venom so Caylee's liver wouldn't be harmed. She has been in the hospital since Tuesday.
It's not surprising she and her friends saw the baby snake because the end of summer is the reptile's breeding season. Normally the Massasauga Rattler leaves people alone. Caylee's mistake was trying to handle the snake and get it out of harm's way.
So does she still feel bad for the rattler even though it didn't appreciate the rescue?
"Yeah, I do. It was just a baby."