BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) — A man shopping for trees at a Lowe's home improvement store was bitten by an 18-inch eastern diamondback rattler, a snake native to the Southeast.
"The gentleman thought he had hit his hand on a thorn but they discovered it was a snakebite," said Chris Ahearn, a spokeswoman for the Mooresville, N.C.-based chain.
A relative shopping with the man Sunday killed the snake, and they brought it with them when the customer was taken to a hospital, she said.
Ahearn would not identify the customer. A hospital official would not provide information without the man's name.
Ahearn surmises the reptile probably made its way to Broken Arrow with the trees, which were shipped in from Tennessee. The species can grow as long as 7 feet and often gives warning bites that deliver no venom
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-04-15-snake-tree_x.htm
"The gentleman thought he had hit his hand on a thorn but they discovered it was a snakebite," said Chris Ahearn, a spokeswoman for the Mooresville, N.C.-based chain.
A relative shopping with the man Sunday killed the snake, and they brought it with them when the customer was taken to a hospital, she said.
Ahearn would not identify the customer. A hospital official would not provide information without the man's name.
Ahearn surmises the reptile probably made its way to Broken Arrow with the trees, which were shipped in from Tennessee. The species can grow as long as 7 feet and often gives warning bites that deliver no venom
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2004-04-15-snake-tree_x.htm