Rattlesnake Bites Twin Cities Man In SE Minnesota

CALEDONIA, MN (AP) - A hiker remains hospitalized after a rare rattlesnake bite in southeastern Minnesota.

The 28-year-old Mounds View man is in fair condition Wednesday at Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse, Wis. The hiker was taken to the hospital by ambulance Friday after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake in Beaver Creek Valley State Park near Caledonia.

Minnesota DNR wildlife biologist Ed Quinn says the reason for the rattlesnake strike is unknown.

The last known time a timber rattler bit a person in Minnesota was 2000. Quinn says the last known fatality in Minnesota from a rattlesnake was 1868.

Timber rattlers are one of two poisonous snakes found in Minnesota.