rattlesnake

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Good Samaritan Stops to Help Snake, Winds Up in Coma

Joseph Ricciardella was bitten by a rattlesnake, which are rare in Connecticut

(Newser) - When Joseph Ricciardella saw the snake in the road, he stopped his car and tried to help it avoid getting run over. The attempted good deed landed him in a Connecticut hospital in a medically induced coma after the timber rattlesnake—rare in the Northeast—bit his hand when he...

At Massive Rattlesnake Den, Scientists, Public Are Watching
It's One of the Biggest
Known Rattlesnake Dens
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

It's One of the Biggest Known Rattlesnake Dens

Scientists, and the public, are watching a 'mega den' of hundreds of snakes

(Newser) - They creep, slither, and slide over and around each other by the dozen and now there's a webcam so that anybody can watch them online at any time. A "mega den" with as many as 2,000 rattlesnakes is providing a viewing bonanza for scientists and other snake...

Feds Find Goose Intestines Under Dead Rattlesnakes

Feds bust 6 for illegally importing gross stuff hidden under other gross stuff

(Newser) - Six people were arrested in New York on Tuesday on charges of illegally importing goose and duck intestines from China, in some cases by hiding them under packaged rattlesnakes or mislabeling them as pet grooming products on customs forms, federal officials announced. The scheme, which the AP reports also included...

Amazon Driver Dropped the Box. The Snake Struck

She was bitten on the back of her leg while delivering a package

(Newser) - An Amazon driver encountered something worse than a porch pirate on Monday. As Monet Robinson was delivering a package to a home in Palm City, Florida, she was bitten in the back of her leg, just above the knee, by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake that had been coiled by the...

20 Rattlesnakes Found in Man's Garage

That's a new record for Arizona snake removal company

(Newser) - An Arizona man called a snake removal company after seeing what he thought were three rattlesnakes lurking in the garage of his Mesa home. He was wrong. There actually were 20 snakes—five adult western diamondback rattlers and 15 babies. One of the adult snakes was pregnant. Snake wrangler Marissa...

Snake Bite Ends a Lifetime Spent Studying Snakes

'Marty' Martin was considered the foremost authority on timber rattlers

(Newser) - A respected snake researcher who had been making significant discoveries about the species since childhood has died after being bitten by a timber rattler. William H. "Marty" Martin died Aug. 3 after being bitten the day before by a captive snake on the property at his home in Harpers...

One Creature Is Thriving in a Hotter California
Rattlesnakes Are Thriving
in California
new study

Rattlesnakes Are Thriving in California

Study suggests that will continue as temperatures warm

(Newser) - Residents of California and the Southwest may want to brush up on the do's and dont's of rattlesnake encounters. A new study suggests the snakes' population there is thriving and will continue to do so, reports the Guardian . The reason is the very one causing grief for humans...

Crowd Watches as Rattlesnake Handler Suffers Fatal Bite

Eugene De Leon Sr. died in Texas 'doing what he loved'

(Newser) - A rattlesnake handler with more than 20 years of experience was showing off his skills at a festival in Texas over the weekend when he suffered a fatal bite. Eugene De Leon Sr. was bitten on the shoulder around 1pm Saturday as he handled a western diamondback rattlesnake in front...

Princess Bride Star Bitten 'Not by a ROUS But a Rattlesnake'

Cary Elwes was gardening at his Malibu home at the time

(Newser) - Actor Cary Elwes was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center this weekend after he was bitten by a rattlesnake. According to TMZ, the Princess Bride star "required immediate medical attention” because "people around him felt it was a life-threatening injury." Sources said he was working in the garden...

Wriggling Surprise Lurked Under California Home

Reptile rescuer pulled nearly 100 rattlesnakes out of house's foundation

(Newser) - The number of snakes under a California house was a surprise to everyone, even the snake wrangler hired to deal with them. “I found a total of 92 rattlesnakes under that house—I was tickled pink,” Al Wolf, also the director of Sonoma County Reptile Rescue, told KGO...

Rattlesnakes Can Fool Us With Their Rattles
Rattlesnakes Can Fool Us
With Their Rattles
new study

Rattlesnakes Can Fool Us With Their Rattles

They change the frequency, making it sound like they're closer than they really are

(Newser) - The rattle of a rattlesnake turns out to be way more complicated than we knew. Researchers have discovered that the snakes are masters of auditory deception, reports the BBC . In a new study in Current Biology , researchers found that they rattle their tails at a frequency of 40 hertz if...

Man Regrets Trying to Pick Up Rattlesnake With BBQ Tongs

California man says bite was 'extremely painful'

(Newser) - "Using cooking utensils when dealing with dangerous reptiles" is a bad idea, Riverside County Animal Services said in a Facebook post after a southern California man was bitten by a rattlesnake he had tried to pick up with barbecue tongs. County officials say the man, who was bitten on...

Yosemite Can't Catch a Break
Yosemite Can't Catch a Break

Yosemite Can't Catch a Break

COVID-19, hazardous air quality, and rattlesnakes

(Newser) - Bad things come in threes, at least as far as one national park is concerned. In addition to COVID's impact and hazardous air quality due to the approach of wildfires on its southern edge, Yosemite is dealing with a "noticeable uptick" in rattlesnake bites, per park officials . Two...

Man Accused of Shoving Dad Off Cliff, Laughing as He Fell

Gerald McCants reportedly lured his elderly father to cliff's edge with talk of a rattlesnake

(Newser) - A Texas man is accused of luring his elderly father to the edge of a cliff, then shoving him off, laughing as the man fell. Per an arrest affidavit, the 78-year-old father of Gerald McCants, 49, told Austin cops his son returned to the home they share around 8:30am...

Mike Posner Is Walking Across the US, but Got Sidelined by a Rattlesnake

Singer got bit, but will be OK

(Newser) - Singer Mike Posner is on a walking trek across the US , releasing a new song for every state he enters—but he was sidelined after completing 1,800 of his planned 2,833 miles , thanks to a rattlesnake. "Crazy day yesterday!" Posner wrote Thursday on Instagram . "I...

Cops: Car We Pulled Over Had Some Weird Things Inside

Like ... uranium

(Newser) - An officer in Oklahoma stopped a car with expired tags only to discover that it was stolen. The surprises just kept coming. A search of the vehicle pulled over in Guthrie on June 26 revealed a gun in the console next to an open bottle of whiskey, a canister of...

1 Big Fall, 2 Broken Legs, 3 Rattlesnakes in Arizona
He Broke Both
Legs in Fall.
Then Came the
Rattlesnakes
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

He Broke Both Legs in Fall. Then Came the Rattlesnakes

Arizona man rescued from 100-foot mine shaft after 2 days

(Newser) - An Arizona man should be a bit more comfortable in a hospital bed having spent two days stuck at the bottom of a 100-foot mine shaft. Believed to have been descending into the gold mine shaft near Aguila, 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, when he fell Monday, 62-year-old John Waddell...

Cops: Man Bit Rattlesnake to Exact Revenge on Neighbor

He put the de-rattled snake in his rival's trailer

(Newser) - If you encounter a rattlesnake in the wild, experts advise freezing and then slowly backing away from the animal. They certainly don't advise biting its rattle off and then turning it loose in your neighbor's trailer, as a Caldwell County, Texas, man is accused of doing. Police say...

Guy Goes to Jump-Start Car, Greeted With Ominous Rattle

Nope. Nope. Nope.

(Newser) - An upstate New York man trying to jump-start his car was greeted by an unusual sound coming from his engine—the rattle of a venomous timber rattlesnake, reports WBNG . The man says the snake slithered across the engine block and curled up on the battery as he opened the hood...

He Shot a Rattlesnake's Head Off. An Hour Later, a Surprise

Billy Forbus says dead snake went after him

(Newser) - A rattlesnake had its head shot off only to go after its executioner an hour later, as seen in a wild video making the rounds on social media. Billy Forbus of Montgomery, Ala., tells WSFA he shot the snake, separating its head from the body, after finding it in his...

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