Two Land O'Lakes men bitten by rattlesnakes 30 minutes apart

LAND O'LAKES — Two men were bitten by rattlesnakes at their homes here about 30 minutes apart Sunday afternoon.

Robert Troidle, 35, and Zachary Booth, 20, remained in serious condition Monday at University Community Hospital's intensive care unit, said hospital spokesman Will Darnall.

Darnall said Troidle was working in his home's yard, on Regina Place off Collier Parkway, when either a pygmy rattlesnake or timber rattlesnake bit through his left tennis shoe as he rode by on a golf cart.

He called a relative for help and together they killed the 18- to 20-inch snake with a shovel, Darnall said.

Booth found a 7-inch pygmy rattlesnake in his garage on McCallie Court and poked at it with a sandal. The snake lunged at his hand and injected him with venom. His hand blew up "like a balloon," Darnall said Booth told authorities.

"It was so small, I didn't think it could hurt me," Booth told Darnall.

Both men were given antivenin and admitted to the hospital, where they remain three doors apart.

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