You just know that nothing good can come from a story with a headline like "Party trick with rattlesnake backfires in a big way."

I'm still cringing.

The story goes like this:

Snake collector Matt Wilkinson of Portland grabbed a 20-inch rattler from the highway near Maupin, and three weeks later, to impress his ex-girlfriend, he stuck the serpent in his mouth.

He was soon near death with a swollen tongue that blocked his throat. Trauma doctors at the Oregon Health and Science University saved his life.

"You can assume alcohol was involved," he said. Actually, not just beer. It was something he called a "mixture of stupid stuff."

Ya' think?

[Via Mark Shea.]