A Texas boy was playing with his toys. He was bitten by a rattlesnake hiding in them

A 1-year-old boy was bitten by a rattlesnake while playing with his toys in Abilene, and authorities say that high temperatures are drawing the snakes closer to residential areas, according to local news reports.

The rattlesnake was hiding in toys near the boy's home, KTXS reported.

The news outlets reported that the boy is alert and improving as of Wednesday morning at Cook Children's Medical Center in Abilene. He received two doses of antivenom but still had mild swelling Tuesday night.

Seven types of venomous snakes are common to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and three are rattlesnake species, according to the University of Texas at Arlington herpetology department, which adds that an average of only two people per year die from poisonous snakebites.

And most people who get bitten by a snake were harassing it or trying to handle it, the school reports.

Abilene has seen numerous snake reports as the weather has warmed up and was the site of an incident last year in which 24 rattlers, including one that slithered out of a toilet, were found in the same home.

In 2016, a Fort Worth police officer used tongs on a pole to remove a rattlesnake from a homeowner's front porch.

This story was originally published June 27, 2018 at 11:42 AM.