Shopper bitten by rattlesnake

[Dragon Lady]

Shopper bitten by rattlesnake
At a Lowe's in Oklahoma, a garden center shopper has a nasty encounter with a rattler.
April 15, 2004: 11:24 AM EDT

TULSA (Reuters) - An Oklahoma man went into a home improvement store looking for shrubs but left in an ambulance after being bitten by a rattlesnake, officials said on Wednesday.

The victim, described as a 35-year-old male, was shopping on Sunday in a section that sold large trees in the outdoor garden center at a Lowe's store in the northeast Oklahoma town of Broken Arrow when he was bitten by an 18-inch rattlesnake, local fire and rescue officials said.

"The individual had thought that he had hit his hand on a thorn and he discovered that it was a snake," said Lowe's spokeswoman Chris Ahearn, who was relaying information that she received from the store's manager.

Fellow shoppers killed the snake and the dead serpent was transported to the hospital in order to help doctors identify the venom to which the victim had been exposed.

Fire officials would not comment on the man's condition. They said it appeared the snake was not of a species native to the area, and Ahearn said it may have possibly been in a tree shipment transported from a vendor in Tennessee.

"We scoured the garden center, and we have not found any other snakes," Ahearn said. She added that Lowe's is vigilant in inspecting the plants it purchases from its suppliers and that the snake bite incident was an isolated and rare case.

[Arrow]

Not sure what kind of rattler this was but oh yes indeedthere are rattlesnakes in Oklahomamost of them crawl butsome of them walk upright

http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/jan/papr/rsnake.html

[Arrow]

Rattle Snake Hunt...2002

http://www.outdoorguide.net/rattlesnake/waynoka3.html

[SuperScout]

A spokesperson for the local hospital has just reported that part of the mystery of the snakebite's victim occupation has been revealed. He is not an attorney, they learned, adding that rattlesnakes do not bite them "Due to professional courtesy."

[Keith_Hixson]

My Wife is the office manager for a camping and retreat center about 12 miles from our home, up in the mountains as we say. They have rattle snakes at the camp and occassionally have to remove them.
One rattler became quite comfortable around kids and enjoyed eating left over hotdogs and other scraps of food. He would occassionally be seen around the campground. But when he crawled between the legs of one of the instructors during an outdoor class he was quickly caught and taken five miles out the camp and dropped off.
The kids still remember the awful scream from that instructor. They swear she must of jumped ten feet in the air.
They have never had an employee or visitor bitten by a rattlesnake, even though they often have visits each camping season.

Keith

[Keith_Hixson]

I understand attorneys have never been bitten by sharks. Even when attorneys swim shark infested waters they never get bit. Must be professional courtesy?

Keith

[SuperScout]

Sharks, rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, you name 'em, professional courtesy applies!!

[melody1181]

I heard that it was an eastern rattler. They said it wasn't native to OK. Seen my fair share of rattlers and shot a few too.

[Seascamp]

Snakes, frigging snakes, Aarrgg!!!!! Count our blessings I suppose. While working in Hyderabad, India, I had to wait for the Snake Gupta to chase the cobras away with a low-pressure steam nozzle every morning. Those ugly black buggers loved to come and camp out under and around the steam turbines at night where I was supposed to be working the next day.

Rule one: No Snake Gupta, no work form me, nope. Rule two: The Snake Gupta was my very best pal and got a nice tip from me every day for a job well done. Aarrgg, snakes give me quicks and jingles every time. Mayhaps I need to discuss this phobia with Keith. :cd:

Scamp

[Arrow]

Shiver me timbers Scamp, a scary deal for sure.

Melody you're right the rattler rode in from the east all curled up and cozy in a planter.

All is well with the customer...

Arrow>>>>>>>