Maribel Castillo

The Republic | azcentral.com

Frank E. Anner, 91, encountered a rattlesnake in an unlikely place Wednesday while on a trip for groceries in Quartzsite.

"I opened the door and got bit when I walked in," Anner said Thursday from his hospital room in Phoenix. "I didn't see it, but I felt it."

The rattlesnake responsible for the bite was an adult western diamondback, a common inhabitant of Arizona, said Frank Lovecchio, medical toxicologist at Banner Good Samaritan Poison Drug and Information Center.

The peak season for snakebites is July through September, and the weather in Quartzsite lately has been ideal, according to Lovecchio.

"Snakes like to come out when the temperatures are hot at night and the moisture is high," he said.

Anner said the one inside the grocery store had a friend — someone found a second snake outside the building.

After the incident, Anner was flown to the Banner Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center, where he undergoing treatment for the bite just above his ankle.

Hospital officials say Anner has responded well to treatment and is in relatively good health. Typically, physicians run into problems when an individual is very old or very young.

"One in fifteen who get envenomated might lose function of the limb or the actual limb," Lovecchio said. "Twenty percent of the time, the bite is considered a dry bite, where no venom enters the victim. Death from a rattlesnake bite is very rare."

Arizonans should keep their eyes open and stay away from any rattlesnake they see, Lovecchio said. A rattlesnake can generally strike its body length, so keeping a good distance away from it is key. Anyone bitten by a snake should seek immediate medical attention, he added.

"Keep your eyes on the ground and keep alert, because you never know where they are," Anner said.