Health

Man Goes to Pick Up ‘Stick’ in a Walmart… Only to be Bitten by Poisonous Snake

Wash. Man Bitten by Rattlesnake at Walmart Told Hand Would Be Permanently Disfigured

(Photo: Wikipedia)

LEWISTON, Idaho (The Blaze/AP) — A man says he reached down to pick up a stick lying in the outdoor gardening aisle of a Walmart in eastern Washington state, only to discover that it was a rattlesnake that then bit his hand.

Mica Craig says he was shopping in the outdoor garden department of a Clarkston store when he was bitten Saturday. The 47-year-old man says it latched onto his hand and that he screamed, shook loose the snake and stomped it to death. More specifically, according to the Lewiston Tribune, he said he “did a tap dance on it and got it killed.”

The Tribune in Idaho reports a bystander drove Craig to an emergency room in nearby Lewiston. The Boise Weekly reports he was sent home at first without treatment as it was believed no venom was injected, but when he got home his arm had swelled to the “size of a cantaloupe.” This time at the hospital, he said he received six bags of anti-venom and was told his hand would be permanently disfigured.

He says doctors expect him to remain hospitalized until Tuesday.

Walmart neither confirmed nor denied that the incident happened. Interestingly enough, this is by no means the first time a shopper has been bitten by a snake at Walmart. Here are cases reported in 2007, 2010 and 2011.

This story has been updated for clarity.

Comments (55)

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  • inferno
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 3:27pm

    I’m sure his lawyer ,Willie the Slime will get a healthy settlement from Wal Mart. The client should use ths share, $29.95 , to put toward eye glasses, since he can’t see well enough to make the distinction between a rattler and a stick. I’m trying to remember If I have ever seen a coiled, or crawling stick.

    Report Post »  
    • The-Monk
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 5:57pm

      TAP DANCE?

      Was that you JZS?

      Report Post » The-Monk  
    • B_rad
      Posted on May 16, 2012 at 12:17am

      Unfortunately, you’re probably right. This guy and some lawyer will try to sue Wal Mart with no real cause. Exactly what is any store supposed to do to prevent wild critters from gaining entry, especially to the garden area??

      Now, I would say he has a pretty good case against the ER. Sending him home before being CERTAIN there was no venom is STOOPID.

      Report Post » B_rad  
  • Arshloch
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 2:10pm

    Just shows you that it’s best to let the janitor do his/her own job. Stop trying to be a ‘good guy’.

    Report Post » Arshloch  
  • Houkster
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 2:00pm

    It is illegal to kill any snake in the state of TN. How about them apples!!

    Report Post »  
  • MerryColin
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 1:44pm

    Crazy comments here! I live in snake country (AZ) and yes, you MAY lose a part of your finger/hand where you were bitten. The venom destroys tissue. However, die from it? Very unlikely.

    Most likely the man saw it as a brown stick; I stepped on what appeared to be the same thing last year while wearing flip flops. My dumbass fault for not being vigilant when the weather was just the right temp where snakes lie straight in the road in the evening to get warmth. (They are cold blooded.) I even had my flashlight as I walked the dog at dusk with my friend. Yep, just being stupid as I gazed at the stars, assuming it was a stripped palm frond when I stepped square in my arch on a 5 foot diamondback rattler! You have no idea how fast the human mind works until you do something this dumb! In milliseconds it was too soft to be a stick, to big to be a garden hose that had fallen from a landscaper’s truck—- I KNEW it was a snake before the snake knew I was about to squish it. My other leg must have done something super human because I was 4 feet from it when I took my foot off of it. It immediately coiled and rattled but did not “chase” me.

    Snakes cannot strike without some kind of coiling so this stick the guy thought he was picking up was a bit crooked OR he didn‘t sense at first touch that it wasn’t a stick. So, his vision and sense of touch are off. He must have held it off the ground long enough for it to get a coil. Dummy. In Idaho and Walmart responsible— NO THEY

    Report Post »  
    • MerryColin
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 1:47pm

      NO THEY ARE NOT! Idaho has snakes guys and they get into garden departments all over.

      Report Post »  
  • Sue Dohnim
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 1:36pm

    HMMM, sounds like a new twist on the calssic “slip and fall” fraud..

    Drop snake is garden area, take bite, kill it then call lawyer..

    Maybe it is legit, but I’d be checking those security cameras..

    Report Post » Sue Dohnim  
  • BigFoot
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:46am

    If you can’t tell the difference between a snake and a stick, you deserve to be bitten.

    Report Post » BigFoot  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 12:24pm

      Oh look mummie there is a stick…hey it‘s got eyes and it’s HAPPY…its wagging it’s tail!

      Report Post »  
    • MerryColin
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 1:49pm

      Unless you simply aren’t vigilant in snake country…like my dummy self!

      Report Post »  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:00am

    Lots of them in Texas Beck.

    Report Post »  
    • searching for the Truth
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:23am

      Kids get into everything.

      Report Post »  
    • Master_and_Commander
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:45am

      Yep, true story. I live in the DFW area and I usually find a snake every other week around my house. Had one in my landscaping right by the door just last week.

      Report Post »  
    • toto
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:49am

      Malpractice by Emergency team, he should have been kept in the ED long enough to determine the truth of no venom if not immediately giving him the antivenin.

      Report Post »  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:00am

    Please note: Production of Coral Snake antivenom has ceased because of profitability.

    Report Post »  
  • YallComeBack
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 10:41am

    I’ve been bitten by states many times. I hate it.

    But now I live where there is no state income tax.

    I hate being bitten by states.

    Report Post »  
  • piper60
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 9:58am

    I hope this guy sues the hospital for sending him home without treatment the first time. Then, he should either sue Wal-Mart, or at the very least put a video up on you tube, laying out what happened to him at Wal-Mart. Bad publicity does as much damage these days as a law suit.

    Report Post » piper60  
    • deerfawn
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 10:54am

      why exactly should he sue wal-mart?

      Report Post »  
    • Solidspine
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:06am

      He should sue the snake too.

      Report Post »  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 12:26pm

      and it’s a lot cheeper for the victim…I can hear the lawyers crying, now.

      Report Post »  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 12:29pm

      BONG!…”lawsuits…in isle-5. Price just reduced from…….”

      Report Post »  
  • Hickory
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 9:39am

    He is a Republican. The snake was a liberal Democrat. Moral to this story: Stay away from liberal Democrats because they are poisonous.

    Report Post » Hickory  
  • Baja
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 9:24am

    If Obama had a snake, it would look like Holder.

    Report Post » Baja  
    • Vickie Dhaene
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 10:07am

      That was funny.

      Report Post »  
    • RoBoTech
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 4:02pm

      I lol’d at that one.
      But, isn‘t Holder Obama’s snake for real?
      Oh, wait, they are both snakes, just best butt buds.
      Obama, the Country’s 1st Gay Snake President.

      Report Post »  
  • Viper1
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:20am

    What is wrong with you people? It was a snake. Is it poisonous or venomous? Really? It bit the poor guy. He will lose part of his hand and maybe worse. Walmart will fight this out and try to blame the customer for not paying for the snake. Afterall, he did kill it.
    I hope he recovers.
    Gods speed.

    Report Post »  
    • 208hendrix2020
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:28am

      ahhh but the kicker, walmart doesnt have licenses to carry poisonous or venomous creatures and that if they were to charge him for the snake it would have had to been in a locked cage…

      Report Post »  
  • Pro-Palin
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:17am

    Oh, Thats right Michelle shops at Target how got I forget.Darn it………………….

    Report Post » Pro-Palin  
  • Square Dancer
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:14am

    And now the president will appoint a new “Wildlife” Czar to be in charge of making sure that businesses will not be allowed to have deadly/dangerous creatures on their premises. If such creatures are found, a hefty fine / TAX will be levied by the government against the business. Aother anti-business rule from the king.

    Report Post »  
  • Turin
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:13am

    This is why I always let the Walmart employees put things back on the shelves where they belong. :-O

    Report Post » Turin  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 12:33pm

      Point to it and say “it fall off shelf…can you put it back?”

      Report Post »  
  • Tpartier3
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:10am

    He probably brought the snake in with him so he could
    get rich from it.

    Report Post » Tpartier3  
  • AxelPhantom
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:54am

    I just killed a coral snake in our back yard last week (< 5 feet from the foundation). It is unusual for a rattler to latch on, they usually just strike and run (coral snakes will latch on). Sounds like Wal-mart will need to start looking a little more closely for snakes in their garden department.

    Report Post »  
  • grandmaof5
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:53am

    Guy must have been very near-sighted! How someone can mistake a rattle snake for a stick is a mystery. My nephew was bitten by a ground rattler when he was young and stupid. He lost part of his finger and they got him to the hospital immediately. Hope this guy has much better luck, although, if he is still alive he already is lucky.

    Report Post »  
    • Vickie Dhaene
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 10:12am

      Easily if you have bad eyes like me. I was at my mom and dad’s place fishing. I come up the bank and thought to myself what are they using the wide black landscaping boarder on? Then it moved !!! It was a huge black snake. Scared the living sh** out of me.

      Report Post »  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 11:06am

      Grandmaof5:

      Its possible to mistake a snake all too easily unless you know what to look for; some of the big mohave rattlers we have here, or a sidewinder can hide close by and you will not tell the difference between them and the rocks unless they move. Hope he does well.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • hawkeyez
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:45am

    If you think thats a stick, you’ve got a sight problem.

    Report Post »  
    • AMENDMENT
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:08am

      Your only saying that because you have Hawkeyez :P

      Report Post » AMENDMENT  
    • 4xeverything
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:09am

      Hey now. The same thing happened to me when I was a kid. Luckily, the snake was a nonvenomous Black Racer and it slithered away quickly. It did scare the living **** out of me though.

      Report Post » 4xeverything  
    • jhaydeng
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 10:21am

      Really! LOL! Duh!

      Report Post »  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:45am

    “Walmart neither confirmed nor denied that the incident happened. Interestingly enough, this is by no means the first time a shopper has been bitten by a states at Walmart…”

    Oops! Here’s hoping the demorats, leftists, communists, radicals of all stripes and patterns, to quote the BLAZE, will be “bitten by (MANY) states” in November….

    Just had to say it… door was open and all…

    Then, there’s the thought: HELLLLOOOOOO, AMERICA! Are you awake yet? Our current government IS a ______(fill in the blank) den of snakes. Growing up, I was taught NOT to let a snake get away, ever. Probably explains why peta and the left and I do not get along at all….

    Report Post »  
  • riverat1970
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:25am

    Ok Blaze, do your homework on the difference between “poisionous” and “ venomous”. Venom is injected, poision is ingested. so unless you eat a snake’s venom glands raw it should be called VENOMOUS.

    Report Post »  
    • FreeUsAll
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 12:34pm

      I thought poisonous was the term for any animal that has or uses poison, but not necessarily dangerous to humans, while venomous would refer to any animal whose poison is toxic to humans. I may have to do further research.

      Report Post » FreeUsAll  
  • teddrunk
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:19am

    With it new political turn to the left, Wal-Mart is full of snakes.

    Report Post »  
  • Toxic Pirate
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 7:06am

    So this is the second story I’ve seen this week where someone is injured,goes to the hospital and is misdiagnosed. The girl with the flesh eating bactiera from the zipline incident and now this guy. No venon injected from a diamond back? really, that latched on?

    Report Post » Toxic Pirate  
    • Melika
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:10am

      Yeah, well, when you see what kind of quality student is being pushed through higher education in the name of affirmative action and special needs education, you wouldn’t be at all surprised by the idiots out there making life and death medical decisions.

      Report Post »  
    • kentuckypatriot
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:10am

      Yep! I smell a huge lawsuit for malpractice!

      Report Post » kentuckypatriot  
  • Concerned Green Beret
    Posted on May 15, 2012 at 6:57am

    It is not the snakes fault. It is the guys fault after all the snake is your friend and the guy was in his natural habitat. Right? Wait let me call PETA to see if that is the correct talking points. My question is shouldn’t the guy be prosecuted for murder? At least agrevated assault with intent to kill a snake who was just minding his own business in his natural habitat.

    Report Post »  
    • 4xeverything
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 8:01am

      “…a snake who was just minding his own business in his natural habitat.”

      I don’t believe Walmart is the snakes natural habitat. Unless of course it was taking advantage of the great summer prices.

      Report Post » 4xeverything  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 12:34pm

      in his natural habitat…a Target or a Wallmart.

      Report Post »  
    • Concerned Green Beret
      Posted on May 15, 2012 at 5:56pm

      @ 4X and Gwhiz, Boy o boy I guess my sarcasim completely missed the mark!!!! In case you haven’t heard those are the comments of the looney animal rights freaks who believe creatures that attack and kill humans should be protected at all costs (like Sharks, poisonous snakes, bears, dogs with rabbies who attack defenseless babies, etc). Oh well next time I will be more careful on how I phrase things.

      Report Post »  
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