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Rattlesnake Bites Woman While Mountain Biking In Boulder County

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - A Wyoming woman is recovering after getting bitten by a rattlesnake while mountain biking in Boulder County last Sunday.

According to Heidi Prentup with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, Kim Rees of Thayne, Wyoming, was mountain biking with her husband David Rees when they decided to change trails and walk across a patch of weeds.

"As Kim followed David, carrying her bike, she felt a sharp pain in her leg and out of the corner of her eye saw a snake slither under a rock. Kim immediately realized she had been bitten by a rattlesnake," Prentup said in a statement.

Kim Rees said she never heard the snake rattle.

The couple took necessary precautions to keep Kim Rees still while making their way off the trail.

Members of the Hygiene Fire Protection District, Lyons Fire Protection District and the American Medical Response Ambulance treated her in the parking lot and she was flown to Boulder Community Health by Northern Colorado Med Evac helicopter.

She was treated and released on Monday.

Additional Information From The Boulder County Sheriff's Office

Rattlesnakes are common in Boulder County. They live in virtually every terrestrial habitat and take shelter in crevices, woodpiles, brushy vegetation or mammal burrows. The best way to avoid being bitten is to avoid places snakes hang out. They eat small mammals, lizards, birds, toads and carrion. They subdue prey by striking them quickly with a venomous bite, which stuns or kills the prey immediately. Given the opportunity to escape, snakes will choose flight over fight. More people are killed by lightning and bee stings than by snake bites, but snake bites make you very sick and uncomfortable.

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