The venomous snakes are the eastern coral snake, the southern copperhead, the cottonmouth, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake and the dusky pygmy rattlesnake.

"The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake is a large, impressive, and potentially dangerous snake. It can strike up to 2/3 its body length; a 6-foot individual may strike 4 feet. These factors, as well as others, make this a snake that should be simply left alone and not bothered," the Florida Museum warns on its website.

In the last four years, 31-year-old Kyle Cook has been struck by lightning, bitten by a venomous spider and - most recently - attacked by an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake in his backyard in Lakeland.

On a recent Tuesday, Ripa pulled an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake out of a carrying container in the hospital’s auditorium as a crowd of doctors, nurses, surgeons and other staffers looked on.

For instance, visitors can see an eastern diamondback rattlesnake snap its fangs into a virtual rodent, or try to identify bats by their unique calls.