Veteran snake handler dies after bite at Texas festival: ‘He had a passion’

A veteran snake handler has died after he was bitten by a rattlesnake at a festival in south Texas, relatives and officials said.

Eugene De Leon Sr., 60, who had wrangled snakes for more than 20 years, died at a hospital Saturday – hours after he was bitten by a rattlesnake at the Rattlesnake Roundup in Freer, KIII reported.

Leon, who was bitten in the shoulder, was airlifted to a hospital in Corpus Christi, where he succumbed to his injuries about eight hours after the incident, Freer’s police chief told the station.

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