In a conversation with a Connecticut environmental police officer, Joseph Ricciardella, who himself survived a rattlesnake bite, said it seemed as if the officer suspected him of trying to poach the endangered viper.

But the Torrington man said Monday that he had no intention of doing so and would stay away from poisonous reptiles after a hellish hallucination experience on July 28 that nearly cost him his life.

“I recommend that no one approaches these snakes,” Ricciardella, 45, texted after sending photos of a swollen, blackened wound on his left hand.

An EnCon official did not make any allegations against Ricciardella but spoke with him to make sure he was aware of the illegal trade in native animals, Ethan Van Ness, spokesman for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said Tuesday.

“EnCon spoke with the individual being treated for a snake bite and made them aware that many of our native reptiles, including timber rattlesnakes, are part of the illegal global wildlife trade,” Van Ness said. “Many of the collectors who take these animals from the wild learn of good locations through media reports.”

He pointed out that forest rattlesnakes are an endangered species and that “the loss of even a few animals has enormous impacts.”

Ricciardella was driving back to Torrington from New York after dropping off his 4-year-old daughter at her mother’s. He said he still didn’t know where he was when he saw the snake on the side of the road, but it was probably somewhere near the New York-Connecticut border. He got out of his car to get a closer look, filmed the snake for about 15 seconds and was about to leave when the viper bit the middle finger of his left hand, Ricciardella said.

He said he was surprised by the snake’s long reach. After calling his ex-girlfriend and mother of his daughter to tell her what had happened, Ricciardella said his eyes were watering like crazy and his throat was tight. When asked why he didn’t call 911, he said, “I was panicking.” He drove to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital in Torrington at “100 miles an hour” and later learned his car was found with the engine running and the windshield wipers on, even though it wasn’t raining.

“It puts you into a kind of hallucination,” he said of the poison.

The father of four said he suffered cardiac arrest and stopped breathing twice. He was flown by helicopter to Hartford Hospital and said he was later told he received medical attention just in time. He said he was grateful to the doctors, nurses and helicopter crew who saved his life.

“They told me if it had happened a minute later, I wouldn’t have survived,” Ricciardella said. “It was that bad. My throat was like it was closing up.”

Once recorded in more than 20 Connecticut towns, the timber rattlesnake now exists in isolated populations in about 10 towns in the central and western parts of the state. According to DEEP, the population has declined due to habitat loss and persecution, including illegal pet trade. Protecting the snake’s special habitats, both winter dens and summer feeding and breeding grounds, is a priority for the agency.

Illegal rattlesnake collection has been a problem in Connecticut and throughout the rattlesnake’s range for at least 40 years, DEEP Wildlife Division Director Jenny Dickson said Tuesday. Some people want to keep the snakes as pets, and the danger the animals pose is an added cool factor. Others want to display the skin or rattles, Dickson said, and some collectors believe parts of the snake are medicinally useful.

Ricciardella said the EnCon officer told him not to share or post the video of the snake, and he complied. DEEP discourages postings about rattlesnakes, Dickson said, because the digital age has accelerated illegal collecting. Collectors look for social media posts, pictures and stories about rattlesnakes to narrow their search areas, she said.

Because the snakes take several years to reach sexual maturity and females only reproduce every three years, killing even a single snake from a population in an area can cause permanent damage, Dickson says.

For a rattlesnake, timber rattlesnakes are “pretty docile,” she said. They are well camouflaged and “basically know they have almost a cloak of invisibility” and won’t attack unless a person gets too close or tries to pick them up, she said.

The last time a rattlesnake bit a person in Connecticut was six years ago, Dickson said. That person had experience dealing with the venomous snakes and removing them from people’s yards, but made some mistakes, she said.

But in general, Dickson said, “our snakes in Connecticut are pretty relaxed.”