If he tried to pick it up?
Then yeah, he had it coming..
Didn't see mention of such.
But wouldn't surprise me if it was how it occurred.

The one thing I will give them (people out to kill rattlers)..
Rattlesnakes in the U.S. (namely the Western Diamondback and southern Pacific rattlesnake)
have "Over-Evolved".
Venom used to kill prairie dogs, mice...now strong enough to kill horses, other large animals.
However, this is supposedly caused by some of their prey to have become immune to their venom...

Also, their venom is "evolving" into neurotoxic venom.
Nasty snakes.. glad we only have the northern copperhead, eastern massasauga rattlesnake, and timber rattlesnake in Pennsylvania. (other than the copperhead, the rattlers are VERY rare to come across.)
I'm not afraid of snakes, had em as pets (non-venomous

).. but they do need to be respected.
Little something on the evolution of rattlesnakes out west. (long read.) -
https://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazin...Emergency.aspx Hey! I'm in PA, as well- displaced from Texas, which is a lot like Australia as far as critters go, somewhat.