The unidentified male hiker, who was in Tennessee’s Savage Gulf State Park on Aug. 8, picked up what was likely a Timber rattlesnake, which has “venom potent enough to kill a human,” but whose “bites are rare,” according to the National Zoo.

WASHINGTON — A hiker at a Tennessee state park has died after he was bitten by a venomous snake, according to park officials. The man, who was not identified publicly, was hiking at the Savage Gulf State Park on Aug. 8 when the snake bit him, Grundy County Emergency Management Agency Director Matthew Griffith said in an emailed statement.