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Customer bitten by rattler at Oklahoma Lowe's

The Associated Press
Published on: 04/15/04

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — 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.

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"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.

A relative shopping with the man Sunday killed the snake, and they brought it with them when the customer was taken to a hospital to ensure proper treatment for the poison, Ahearn said.

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

A hospital official would not provide information without the man's name. Ahearn would not identify the customer.

The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is not one of the five rattlesnake species native to Oklahoma, said David Walker, naturalist supervisor at the Oklahoma City 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.

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."

`AP-CS-04-15-04 1144EDT