Timber Rattler puts man in critical condition

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WINTERGREEN — An injured man had to be airlifted Tuesday from the Blue Ridge Parkway and flown to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville after he was repeatedly bitten by a poisonous snake, according to details released by the Waynesboro First-Aid Crew.

The man, believed to be in his 40s, was spotted about 2 p.m. leaning against a tree at the 9.6 mile marker at the Dripping Rock pull-off, said Chief George Maupin of the Waynesboro First-Aid Crew. Maupin said the man told a passerby that he’d been bitten five times in the hand by a timber rattlesnake.

By the time rescue personnel arrived at the scene, Maupin said, “he wasn’t able to talk to us when we got there. He was in a dazed state.”

Maupin said the victim, whose identity has not been released, was airlifted from Reed’s Gap. He did not know the man’s condition, but added, “We would assume he was critical.”

Maupin said the man had been about a quarter of a mile off the Blue Ridge Parkway and was alone when attacked, but said rescue personnel received limited details about the incident.

“We’re not sure of the exact circumstances,” he said.

According to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Web site, the timber rattlesnake is venomous and can grow up to 60 inches long. It is typically nocturnal in the summer months and lives at elevations up to 6,000 feet, sometimes even higher, in the Blue Ridge.