Photo: National Zoo.

A snake handler at the National Zoo had a rather frightening day yesterday, when a cottonmouth snake — much like that bad boy to your right — had a bit of a freakout and spit a wicked combination of concentrated nastiness into her eye.

The snake handler was moving a cottonmouth to a temporary shelter for routine exhibit cleaning when the snake bit its own tail, causing it to release a combination of venom, urine and feces, a zoo spokesperson said.

Oww and eww. The handler is okay; D.C. Fire and EMS responded quickly and took the woman to the hospital, but only as a precaution.