Rattlesnakes are known to be dangerous animals; ask just about anyone on the street if they would confront or even get close to a rattlesnake, and just about everyone would say 'no' because it’s common knowledge that they're both aggressive and venomous.
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With that in mind, it’s somewhat hard to understand why someone would go as far as to try to kiss one, just as a man from Florida did. As you can probably imagine, things didn’t end very well for him.
According to several reports, a man by the name of Ron Reinold was said to have been playing with the snake, being dim and silly on Tuesday, when he finally decided that he would try his luck even further.
"Ron was just acting silly, you know?" witness Charles Goff said in a statement. "I guess he said he could kiss the devil and get away with it, but evidently he didn't.
It was at that moment Reinold extended his neck to kiss the animal and then instantly regretted it; the rattlesnake bit him right in the face.
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Reinold was reportedly airlifted from the scene to a local hospital where he was treated in critical condition. As of Wednesday, he is still recovering from the incident, but he’s expected to survive.
Rattlesnake venom isn’t friendly to the human body. While people rarely die from rattlesnake bites, the venom is highly potent and is a known tissue-destroying toxin linked to complications like necrosis, which can lead to more severe medical complications if not treated immediately.
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As for the rattlesnake, it got away and hasn’t been discovered since the incident. It’s unknown where it might be at this point in time, which serves as a fair warning for Florida residents that they should avoid contact with all snakes for their safety.
While Reinold was perhaps just trying to show off and/or be funny, it’s still unknown what would lead him to think that trying to kiss a venomous rattlesnake was a good idea.
If one thing’s for sure, Reinold probably won’t be kissing snakes again any time soon; at least we hope.
Source: CBS News
