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GAINESVILLE SUN (Florida) 07 September 06 Snakebite incidents such as the one at a Lowe's in Ocala aren't isolated (Nathan Crabbe)
The movie is called "Snakes on a Plane," but the reality could be called "Snakes in a Garden Center."
A rattlesnake biting a women in the garden section of an Ocala home-improvement store Tuesday isn't the first time such an incident happened in Florida. In fact, it wasn't even the first incident this year.
Snakes are common Florida residents and bite 300-400 people each year in the state, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A handful of those bites have happened at garden centers over the years and usually involve pygmy rattlers.
"It's not the first time, (but) I wouldn't say it's common," said David Cook, a wildlife biologist with the commission.
On Tuesday, a 42-year-old woman was bitten by a dusky pygmy rattlesnake while moving around plants at a Lowe's store in Ocala. She was given anti-venom and was reported to be in stable condition.
In July, a pygmy rattlesnake reportedly bit a man shopping in the garden center of a Wal-Mart in Sanford. A Gainesville emergency-room doctor recalled a similar incident about two years ago at a garden store in this area.
And in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were reports of at least four incidents of snake bites in the garden centers of Wal-Mart stores throughout the state.
The good news is pygmy rattlesnakes generally deliver a painful but nonlethal bite, said Kenneth Krysko, a herpetologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.
"For most people, it's just like a little wasp sting," he said.
The snakes are common in Marion County because of the Ocala National Forest but less common in Gainesville because of development, he said. People should be careful where they put their hands into vegetation, he said, but don't need to be overly concerned.
"If wouldn't be afraid of it," he said. "Just don't stick your hands in bushes."
Snakebite cases are fairly common at Shands at the University of Florida, said Kevin Ferguson, an emergency room physician at the hospital. The hospital sees at least one case a week during the summer and has seen as many as three in one day, he said.
He recalled a case involving a man who was bit at an area garden center about two years ago, but didn't remember any specifics.
A snakebite can cause serious health problems depending on the variety, he said. The bites of coral snakes can cause neurologic complications, while a pygmy rattler's bite can cause bleeding that won't clot.
Fatal snakebites are rare, said Henry Cabbage, spokesman for the state fish and wildlife commission. Of the 7,000 to 8,000 snakes bites each year in the United States, he said, about five are fatal.
Most bites happen when people try to kill or capture snakes, said Anni Bladh, the commission's nuisance-animal biologist for the region.
People should avoid contact with snakes, she said, especially Florida's six venomous varieties.
"Leave them alone, especially if they're venomous," she said.
The Ocala incident apparently happened when the woman was moving plants in the garden center. The snake could have hitchhiked from the nursery where the plants were grown, Cook said.
Snakes can go weeks without food, he said, making such a journey possible. Pygmy rattlers seldom grow more than 16 inches and sit in a tight coil, he said, so they could pass workers without notice.
Jean Howard of the Gainesville service Snakebusters said she's never been called to catch a snake found on a house plant.
But the service has caught snakes in other odd places, including a toilet and a pickup.
She tells people to leave snakes alone if they're outside and call a professional if the snake gets indoors. Most snakes won't hurt people unless threatened or surprised, she said.
"They're not going to hurt you, they're not going to chase you, but be aware," she said.
Snakebite incidents such as the one at a Lowe's in Ocala aren't isolated

I am not certain that the use of antivenin is the proper course of action in the bite of a pygmy. Monitor & treat symptoms makes more sense to me. If deemed necessary, sure, but I would not consider that the automatic first course of treatment.

~~Greg~~