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Person reportedly bitten by 2 snakes at same time

Staff photo by JIM FARQUHAR

John Agan rests in University Community Hospital after being bitten by two snakes while walking his dog.

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TBO.com

Published: October 27, 2009

Updated: 10/27/2009 08:54 pm

TAMPA - John Agan was doubly unlucky Tuesday – he got bit by not one but two snakes.

Doctors think one was a coral snake and the other was a pygmy rattler.

The bites happened when Agan was out with his dog at about 1:45 p.m. outside the Masters Inn at U.S. 92 and State Road 579.

His dog was near the hotel trash bin. Agan, who was wearing sandals, was standing near some boards when he got bit by two snakes at the same time.

A coral snake bit his right shin and a pygmy rattlesnake bit the top of his right foot, Agan said.

"At first when I felt the initial pinch I thought maybe it was the boards that came together because they're stacked on top of each other,'' Agan said. "But you know, I looked down. Shoot ! I knocked it off. And I noticed the other snake down on my foot and I'm going crazy, I mean, this is really wild to have two snakes like that.''

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue emergency crews responded to the scene and took Agan to the hospital.

The crew searched for the snakes but didn't find them, said Ray Yeakley, a fire rescue spokesman.

"That doesn't mean they weren't there," Yeakley said. "It just means they weren't there when we were there."

Agan said he isn't feeling, well, snake-bit about his double snake bites.

"What can I say? It's Florida,'' Agin said. "I was born and raised here. And I'll die here. Hopefully not by a snake bite.''

Reporter José Patiño Girona can be reached at (813) 259-7659.

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