Updated August 25, 2025 10:59AM
On August 8, a hiker in Tennessee’s Savage Gulf State Park passed away after having an allergic reaction to a bite from what officials believe was a timber rattlesnake.
The tragedy was a rare one: While several thousand people receive venomous snakebites in the U.S. every year, only a few—5 on average—die. Those few deaths tend to get a lot of media coverage, partially because of how uncommon they are, and partially because they play into some of our most deep-seated fears—somewhere around half of Americans are afraid of snakes, an aversion that scientists believe is evolutionary.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about this month’s incident, but emergency response officials in Tennessee have shared one detail that can help us make sense of it: They say the victim received a bite to his hand after apparently attempting to pick up the snake.
It may be hard for many hikers to comprehend why someone would willingly pick up a rattler, but it’s a more common way of getting bitten than you might think. While estimates of how many snakebites are a result of intentional exposure vary widely, some studies have concluded that as many as two-thirds may occur when someone handles, approaches, or otherwise provokes the snake. The good news? These “illegitimate” bites are totally avoidable. In the video above, we talk about why they happen, and what you should do if you encounter a venomous snake on the trail.
