5-foot-long rattlesnake bites man after it was shot
BARTOW, Fla. (AP) - Florida emergency officials say a man was bitten by a five-foot-long rattlesnake and then flown to a hospital for treatment.
In a news release sent Monday, Polk County emergency officials said the man was at the River Ranch hunting grounds in central Florida on Sunday when he was bitten.
Someone had spotted the snake and shot it. One man thought the snake was dead and tried to pick it up, but the snake was still alive and bit him in the hand. The man was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where he was treated with antivenin.
Officials say they couldn't release the man's name due to privacy laws. They added that they don't know the man's condition.