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A hiker died after a rattlesnake bite in Tennessee's Savage Gulf State Park.

Rattlesnake bites occur 7,000-8,000 times annually in the U.S., mostly in the South.

Utah officials advise staying 10 feet away from rattlesnakes and not harming them.

SALT LAKE CITY — A hiker in a Tennessee state park died recently after picking up a rattlesnake that bit him on the hand.

The hiker, a man whose name was not released, was in Savage Gulf State Park in Gruetli-Laager, Tennessee, about 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, Matthew Griffith, director of the Grundy County Emergency Association, said in an email to The New York Times .

A witness told officials that the hiker had picked up a snake, which was believed to be a timber rattlesnake, and was bitten on a h

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