Snake Bitten

Jersey City, New Jersey, April 15, 2004:

The large trees section at a Lowe's store looks a lot like a forest, but customers don't expect to see dangerous fauna living in the flora. A customer rummaging through the trees at a Lowe's store here was bitten on the hand by an 18-inch eastern diamondback rattlesnake, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

"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 hardware chain.

The man was later identified by hospital personnel as 2000 and 2004 Ronatarian presidential candidate Ron.

A fellow party member shopping with Ron Tuesday killed the snake, and they brought it with them when Ron was taken to a hospital to ensure proper treatment for the poison, Ahearn said.

Political opponents immediately jumped on the story and called Ron's campaign "snakebit" and "still a stupid, futile attempt at self-aggrandizement."

Ron declined to respond to his detractors and said he was only happy that "the snake got my hand and nothing else."

The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is not native to New Jersey, said David Walker, naturalist supervisor at the famous Bronx Zoo. Its natural range is in the Southeast.

The rattler can grow as long as 7 feet and often gives warning bites that deliver no venom.

The snake probably made its way to North Jersey with the trees, which were shipped in from Tennessee. Ahearn said she knows of no other similar instances at Lowe's.

Store employees immediately scoured the trees for other animals after the snakebite and found none, Ahearn said.

"We feel like this is an isolated incident, but we are taking it very seriously," she said. "We continue to watch our garden centers for uninvited guests…I’m talking about the snake here, not Ron."

Posted by Bittle at April 15, 2004 10:08 AM

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