A Manatee County toddler is recovering this week after being bitten by a pygmy rattlesnake.

Sarah Lawson, 3, was bitten on the finger while playing on the playground at the Sunny Daze daycare in Bradenton.

“I feel extremely lucky,” said her mother Shannon Rainwater. “I've heard stories where things go very wrong, very wrong. It's a very scary situation."

Rainwater said her daughter was bitten by the snake about an hour after she dropped her off at school on Monday morning.

She said the staff at the daycare rushed her daughter to a nearby urgent care medical facility. From there, she was taken by ambulance to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Once at the hospital, Sarah was given an anti-venom treatment. Sarah’s mother said as a result of the bite, her finger, hand and arm got very purple and swollen.

Once situated at the hospital, Rainwater said she asked her daughter how it happened. She said Sarah, who is quite adventurous, admitted to trying to grab the snake.

“She said she was going to move it and it was cute," said Rainwater.

Sarah is back home after being hospitalized for two days. She’s also back to her old playful self.

But, now she and her mother are being extra cautious about what’s around them while outside.

Christy Norris, with Nuisance Wildlife Removal, said it’s something everyone should be doing. “With all the rains recently, the snakes have been driven to people's homes, garages, and inside their living quarters,” said Norris. “We're getting an abundance of calls."

Norris said in the past two weeks they’ve had more than 20 snake-related calls. According to wildlife experts, the pygmy rattlesnake is the most common venomous snake in Florida.

It's also responsible for the most snakebites out of any other snake.

Despite the pain the bite caused her daughter, Rainwater said she isn’t angry about it. "I know snakes are everywhere,” Rainwater said. “It's Florida. They're going to be around. It was just purely an accident that it happened to be there."

Rainwater said she isn’t upset at the daycare and plans on sending her daughter back to school on Monday. The snake at the daycare was never found.

Just as a precaution, they’ve closed off the playground.

Pygmy rattlesnakes often get confused with the juvenile black racer. Both have similar markings.

If you ever get bit by a snake, you’re advised to get medical help immediately. You’re also urged to let the professionals handle the removal of them.