A man is recovering in hospital after being bitten on the tongue by a rattlesnake similar to this one, after attempting to kiss it. Steve Backshall/Wikimedia Commons

A Florida man is recovering in hospital, after his attempts to kiss a rattlesnake went horribly wrong.

Ron Reinold was playing with a rattlesnake that had been captured by his neighbor the previous day. At some point, Mr Reinold attempted to kiss the snake, a local CBS channel reports.

It is not known what type of kiss the man went for, or where on the snake the man was attempting to kiss, or frankly why anyone would think attempting such a thing was a good idea, but the snake proceeded to bite him fiercely on the tongue.

Charles Goff, Reinold's neighbor, said that he had found the venomous snake on Monday and had put it in a tank because he didn't know how to handle it.

Unfortunately, the next day his neighbor Reinold and a few other un-named individuals went to investigate the tank.

"The next morning before I got up, they were playing with the snake," Goff told Action News Jax. "One boy said, 'I'm going to kiss it in the mouth,' and the snake bit him in the face."

It's not clear why Reinold tried to kiss the snake, or what technique he was using in his attempts.

"Ron was just acting silly, you know?" Goff continued. "I guess he said he could kiss the devil and get away with it, but evidently he didn't."

Mr Reinolds was flown by helicopter to hospital where he was put into a coma, but thankfully he has since woken up and is now recovering in hospital.

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The Washington Trails Association has some handy advice for what to do if you find a rattlesnake in your garden. The first thing they suggest is you freeze, to avoid making the snake feel threatened. If you can hear it but not see it try and locate the source of the rattle, as the last thing you want to do is accidentally walk towards the snake, further threatening it.

Finally, slowly move away from the snake, avoiding any sudden movements. If possible, you should hold out a stick or pole at arm's length, in the hope that the rattlesnake may attack that instead of you if it feels threatened.

Unwritten rule number one of encountering a rattlesnake, however, is "do not attempt to make out with it".

The snake has reportedly escaped the encounter, and shouldn't be approached or advanced upon in any romantic way.