Man bitten attempting to take rattlesnake selfie

A US man who attempted to take a selfie with a rattlesnake is in hospital with a good chance of losing his hand after the snake bit him.

Alex Gomez, 36, found the 1.2 m reptile in a field near his home in Lake Elsinore, California, and decided to document his find, CBSCBS.

Despite some good advice by his nephew Ronnie to give the snake a wide berth, Mr Gomez continued to try and snap a photo with the highly venomous creature.

“It was really thick and had ten rattles on it, it was rattling,” Ronnie said. “It was pretty mad.”

So mad that as Mr Gomez attempted to pick it up the snake lashed out and bit him on his right hand.

“I’m shocked that he would have that thing around his neck,” the victim's mother, Deborah, told the media outlet.

“It could’ve bit his neck, and that would have been it. That’s just being a fool.”

Mr Gomez was rushed to hospital after the camera-shy snake attacked. It is uncertain whether doctors will need to amputate his hand, with his skin rotting away despite being administered anti-venom.