PALM CITY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida Amazon driver was hospitalized Monday after being bitten by a “highly venomous” snake while making a delivery, deputies said.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office said the driver was delivering a package to a home in the Highland Reserve Community in Palm City at the time of the incident.
When the driver set down the package in front of the home’s front door, she was bitten by an eastern diamondback rattlesnake that was coiled up nearby.
Deputies said the driver immediately became ill and cried out for help. She was hospitalized in “very serious condition” as of Tuesday.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are solitary animals that usually function as ambush predators, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The FWC said they usually try to escape situations when they feel threatened by humans, but they are capable of attacking.
If you see one of these snakes in the wild, give it space and do not try to touch it. If you live in an area where eastern diamondbacks are known to live, be careful when leaving your home, keep your dogs on leashes, and be mindful of “stumps, animal burrows and fallen trees,” according to the FWC.
Rattlesnake sightings in Florida can also be reported with the FWC Reporter app.