A Walnut Creek teenager is recovering after a close call with a rattlesnake.
The boy was bitten Saturday night in front of a friend's house -- not a place one would expect to have a close encounter with a rattler.
"It felt like something zapped me...kind of like someone electrocuting me," Cayden Zingg said.
The 15-year-old boy and his buddies had just finished playing football Saturday and then stopped at his friend's house to get some water when a baby rattler bit him on the ankle just in front of the home.
"My friend said it's a rattlesnake. I was like no way and I see it rattling," Zingg said. "I'm freaking out and I run inside. I'm going to die. I'm dead."
The boys called 911 as Zingg's body started going numb.
"I started feeling it in my fingers, in my tongue and my nose," Zingg said. "I never felt like that in my life before."
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Zingg on Monday said he was feeling much better. Doctors gave him anti-venom medication. They said rattlesnake bites can cause serious problems if not treated.
Thankfully, Zingg got help quickly. He was set to return home on Monday.
Zingg wants others to be on the lookout for rattlesnakes even where you do not expect them.
"I never would expect this to happen in my life," he said.
