Thick nappy saves baby from snake

Israel is home to a number of snakes, some of them deadly

A 12-month-old Israeli baby survived a snake attack as he played in his backyard when his nappy absorbed most of the venom from the reptile's fangs.

The child's parents only noticed the bite as they were bathing him and found fang marks on the nappy and a swelling on his bottom.

They rushed him to hospital where doctors said there was no need for an antidote, Reuters news agency reports.

However, it was decided to keep him in hospital for observation.

"He had been bitten by a venomous snake," Dr Kobi Assaf of Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital told Israel Radio.

"Luckily, the snake injected its venom into the nappy on coming into contact with it and most of the poison did not penetrate the skin."

Israel has a number of deadly snakes including the Puff Adder, the Saw-scaled Viper and the Palestinian Viper.