Connecticut man bitten by rare rattlesnake ends up in coma

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https://www.wcax.com/2024/08/02/connecticut-man-bitten-by-rare-rattlesnake-ends-up-coma/

Connecticut man bitten by rare rattlesnake ends up in coma

By The Associated Press
Published: Aug. 2, 2024 at 9:59 AM EDT|Updated: Aug. 2, 2024 at 10:00 AM EDT

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — 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, which is rare in the Northeast, bit his hand when he threw a shirt over it and tried to pick it up, said Brittany Hilmeyer, his former girlfriend and the mother of his daughter.

Hilmeyer said Ricciardella called her on Sunday to say he had just been bitten and was driving to the hospital. His voice sounded odd, like Donald Duck, she said. She said it happened as Ricciardella was driving from a park in upstate New York to his home in Torrington, Connecticut, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Hartford.

It isn’t clear exactly where the encounter happened because he hasn’t been able to speak in detail yet to family and friends, she said.

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[John1956PA]

1. In 2020, there was a Pennsylvania death from a Timber Rattler bite.

The decedent was from my area in Western Pennsylvania. The fatal encounter occurred in North-Central Pennsylvania at a private camp. In that area, there is no hospital readily accessible. The time required to transport the victim to a hospital contributed to the tragic outcome. Until then, it had been fourteen years since such a death occurred in Pennsylvania.

[dem4decades]

2. Personally, i would have used a stick.

[intheflow]

3. I grew up about 50 miles north of where he was bit.

In Massachusetts. I’d always heard we had rattlesnakes in the area but never saw any growing up. Saw plenty when I lived in CO for a while. Now back in Mass, and this is the second story about nearby rattlesnakes I’ve heard this week! 😳 The other being on a trail outside Boston. 😳 I mean, in the Berkshires, okay, but as far east as BOSTON?! They must be expanding their range as well as population.

[3Hotdogs]

4. I live n N.J. Snakebites are so rare that they make the Newark Star-Ledger.

There were two bites, two years ago. Copperheads. The victims went off trail to relieve themselves. The last rattlesnake bite was about 20 years ago, at the Delaware Water Gap. The victim was hiking with his kid. He saw a rattler on a rock and wanted a photo. But the fukkin snake wasn't facing the Sun like it should have been. "So I reached down to "adjust" the snake."

For his effort, he spent two weeks in hospital and got a $2k fine for pestering an endangered species.



But it gets more interesting. Along the Appalachian Trail, the part where it goes through New Jersey, is a section where the trail goes into Sunrise Mountain. At the top of the hill (N.J. doesn't not have any real mountains, 2,000 ft + elevation), is a shelter that was probably built by the Civilian Conservation Corp. Two feet to the east of the shelter, goes the Appalachian Trail. I would guess that about 10,000 people walk on that part of the trail every year.

Anyways, 5 more feet to the east, is a Timber Rattlesnake nest. I have photos of two of the largest Timbers you might never want to encounter. The think is, they are not aggressive. You need to make an effort in order to get bitten.