What did you think was going to happen when you picked up the pissed off rattlesnake?

November 7, 2006
Woman Fatally Bitten by Snake in Church
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 5:50 p.m. ET


LONDON, Ky. (AP) -- A southeastern Kentucky woman was bitten by a
snake during a church service and later died, a law enforcement
officer said. Linda Long, 48, of London died Sunday at University of
Kentucky Medical Center, said Brad Mitchell, a detective with the
Laurel County Sheriff's Office.


Long died about four hours after the bite was reported, the Lexington
Herald-Leader reported.


Officials said Long attended East London Holiness Church. Neighbors
of the church told the newspaper the church practices serpent handling.


Lt. Ed Sizemore of the Laurel County Sheriff's Office said friends
went with Long to a local hospital Sunday afternoon, and she was taken
to UK.

''She said she was bitten by a snake at her church,'' Sizemore said.


Handling reptiles as part of religious services is illegal in
Kentucky. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50 to
$100 fine. Police said they had not received reports about snake
handling at the church.

Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of
Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to ''take up
serpents'' without being harmed.

Church officials could not be reached for comment.


The funeral was scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Arthur's Chapel
Church in Rosehill, Va., according to the Rosehill Funeral Home.