Darwin Award Candidate?

So you're driving along, minding your own business, visions of a soyburger dancing in your head, when in the road ahead you see this poor, helpless animal attempting to cross the road. So far, so good. You peer through the windshield, and determine that it is a SNAKE. Being the concerned, ecologically-conscious, friend of the universe that you are, you do the natural thing. You slowly roll to a stop, exit the vehicle, place bright orange traffic cones at the front and rear, and a third exactly 150 feet (measured) behind your vehicle. You then meditate for exactly 10 seconds to ensure the proper attitude for human-animal (sorry, animal-animal) interaction. Stephen Sodones spotted it along the edge of Route 23 in Jefferson, a snake just starting its precarious slide to the other side of the highway. So the 62-year-old animal lover picked it up, hoping to carry it to safety. But in doing so, Sodones quickly learned one of nature's more important facts: Snakes bite. [...] Oops! You're OK with this, since he (the snake... ) is only doing what comes naturally. But upon further reflection (and biting...) you decide that maybe you should approach this from a different tack. What bit Sodones three times on the arm Monday night was a copperhead, which can grow to 4 feet and have fangs like hypodermic needles. No one is quite sure how big this one was. (image credit: Tigerhomes.org) (Try: Big enough. And think: poisonous!) Sodones, who lives in the Newfoundland section of Jefferson, remained hospitalized last night in the intensive care unit at Chilton Memorial Hospital in Pompton Plains. His condition was listed as critical, but improving, a hospital spokeswoman said. [...] At first, Sodones didn't think much about the bites. But about four hours later, when he felt woozy, Sodones called 911, police said. By then, the snake was long gone. "It was a good thing to do, but the wrong way to do it. I wouldn't recommend anyone touch a venomous snake unless they know what they are doing," Abene said. "What the heck was he thinking?" Lets see, now where did I put those Darwin Award applications? (Thanks to Free Republic for the original link) Update: After posting, I got to wondering... How does a person live for 62 years doing things like this. And why did it take that long to learn that snakes (and other animals) BITE? Technorati : Copperhead, Darwin Award, Humor, Miscellaneous, New Jersey, News, Snake, United States