A delivery driver was dropping off a package at a Florida home when she was bitten by a highly venomous eastern diamondback rattlesnake, authorities said.
The woman was hospitalized in "very serious condition," the Martin County Sheriff's Office said.
The incident took place Monday evening in Palm City, about 40 miles north of West Palm Beach. The snake, which was coiled up near the front door, bit the driver as she put the customer's package down and she "immediately became ill," the sheriff's office said.
The victim was last listed in serious but stable condition, a sheriff's office spokesperson said Tuesday.
The highly venomous eastern diamondback is very common to the area, the sheriff's office said.
The snakes are brown, yellow or tan, and they have black, brown and cream diamonds, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
They're an average of 3 to 6 feet long. When coiled, an eastern diamondback "can strike up to two-thirds its body length to inject its prey with venom," the FWC said.
To avoid a rattlesnake bite, sheriff's office spokesperson Christine Weiss recommended to always look down while walking.
"If you are scrolling through a phone while walking or at all distracted, you might not see them until it's too late," she told ABC News via email.
"Rattlesnakes will typically rattle, or make a distinctive defensive noise if they are agitated, feel threatened or about to strike," she added. "So if you are wearing ear pods and not listening to the outside element, you will not likely hear that warning."
"Use caution when moving planters, pots, pieces of lumber or even tree limbs," Weiss continued. "Expect them. They are here and there a lot of them."
2024-12-25 12:29142 view
2024-12-25 11:582092 view
2024-12-25 11:32584 view
2024-12-25 11:182048 view
2024-12-25 10:421235 view
2024-12-25 09:55346 view
"The Voice" crowned Team Bublé singer Sofronio Vasquez as the Season 26 winner.The season finale ai
Regulators took over First Republic Bank and sold a substantial chunk of its assets to JPMorgan Chas
All week we've reported on the business of the influencer industry and how it's become an aspiration