Did you know a man was bitten by a snake at Walmart and is suing?

Wal-Mart is full of signs highlighting low prices, but there should be another warning customers that they might be attacked by snakes on the premises, a bitten shopper says.Hollywood resident Jay Richitelli filed suit against the mega retailer because a venomous pygmy rattlesnake bit him July 6 last year in the lawn and garden section of the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pembroke Pines. He is seeking an unspecified amount in monetary damages in the Broward Circuit Court case. His attorneys said his medical bills could top $100,000.Richitelli, 42, was the third Floridian within a three-year span to fall victim to a pygmy rattler — a small, ill-tempered snake — slithering around a Wal-Mart garden center. Two men were attacked in separate incidents in 2006 at stores in Central Florida."Since it happened in the past, it was very foreseeable it could happen again," said Armando Paz, Richitelli's attorney.

Wal-Mart declined to discuss the attack because of the pending litigation."The safety of our customers is always the top priority," said Michelle Bradford, a spokeswoman at the chain's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.Snake attacks at department stores' garden centers are rare, said Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue Capt. Ernie Jillson, head of the agency's Venom Response Bureau. When they do happen, it's usually unclear whether the snake came in with plants or came onto the premises on its own, he said.Pygmy rattlers, which don't grow longer than 2 feet, are one of six species of venomous snakes in Florida. There are no recorded incidents of people dying from their bite, but their venom can cause nerve damage and other medical ailments, Jillson said.Richitelli, who works at his family's thrift store, said he was looking for plants for his father's home when the young rattler clamped onto his right hand."It felt like fire going through my arm," he said."I looked and the thing was latched on."Richitelli said he began swinging his arm trying to get the snake off, accidentally hitting a Wal-Mart employee with the rattler. When he finally shook off the snake, he stomped on it until it was dead, sat down and called 911, he said. more