RFK Jr. – Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a viral video showing him grabbing two snakes with his bare hands on Dr. Mehmet Oz’s patio on May 26, getting bitten while asking if the reptiles were venomous. The post identifies the snakes as black racers, a com
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was dressed in full business professional attire when he leaned over on Dr. Mehmet Oz’s patio and reached for two black reptiles—hands bare, attention on the camera instead of the ground beneath them.
In a video Kennedy posted May 26 on X. the Health and Human Services secretary is seen grabbing and lifting the snakes at the home of Oz. who administers the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Cheryl Hines, Kennedy’s wife, appears off to the side and reacts as the snakes wriggle and lunge to escape.
“Honey, honey! Why? Why?” Hines can be heard asking as Kennedy bends down to grab at the animals. The moment escalates quickly: Kennedy manages to hold one snake in each hand, but one bites his hand while he dangles them in the air for the camera.
Oz and Kennedy laugh about it even as they try to identify the snakes’ species—because in this version of the story, the question of venom is never far from the surface. “Are they biting?” Oz asks. “Yes,” Kennedy laughs while holding up his injured hand.
Hines’s worry lingers on the possibility that the snakes could be water moccasins. “Honey, please, let them go!. Bobby. please!” she says as Kennedy beckons Oz over to “take a picture.” In the caption of his post. Kennedy describes the snakes as black racers and frames the episode as a removal of the pair from Oz’s patio.
“Was the snake that bit RFK Jr. venomous?” becomes less a mystery than a species check. The southern black racer is commonly described as a non-venomous snake often found in the Southeastern United States. The Florida Museum cautions that bites can still be unpleasant. but that black racers do not pose a risk to humans.
The museum also notes that the odds of being bitten are low unless a person chooses to become a bare-handed snake handler. “North American racers are not dangerous to people or pets. but they will readily bite to defend themselves. ” it says. adding that racers are not aggressive and avoid direct contact. The museum further warns that bites typically happen when snakes are intentionally molested and urges people to leave animals alone—especially when species identification is uncertain. It also lays out first-aid steps if someone is bitten. including removing any jewelry that could restrict circulation. keeping the bitten limb below heart level if swelling occurs. and seeking medical care. It adds that prompt anti-venom treatment is vital when the snake is venomous or its identity is unclear.
Kennedy’s latest snake incident lands on the same public stage as other wildlife moments he has shared over time—encounters that keep turning into headline-grabbing stories far beyond any single animal.
Earlier this May. for example. a photo on Instagram showing Kennedy “rescuing” a bird at Dulles airport sparked jokes about whether he was eating the starling. with some commenters comparing his grip to holding it “like an ice cream cone.” Another of his more widely discussed wildlife episodes dates back to a 2012 account from his oldest child. Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy. In that 2012 interview with Town & Country. Kick Kennedy described how her father allegedly took a chainsaw to a giant whale’s head after a dead whale washed ashore during a family vacation in Hyannis Port. Massachusetts.
Kick Kennedy said she was 6 at the time and recalled the response unfolding fast. The family. she said. rushed to the beach once word spread. and after decapitating the body. Kennedy tied the head to the top of the family’s minivan with a bungee cord for the five-hour drive back to Mount Kisco. New York. She described the ride as chaotic and unpleasant. with “whale juice” pouring into the car windows and drivers on the highway responding with gestures she said were typical for them.
The National Marine Fisheries Service told the Associated Press in 2024 that it was looking into the incident, which it said may have violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act, but it later dropped the investigation.
Criticism has also resurfaced around Kennedy’s relationship with roadkill and what some observers see as an unusually hands-on approach. In April. the release of the biography “RFK Jr.: The Fall and Rise” brought attention to a 2001 entry from Kennedy’s private journal. Journalist Isabel Vincent described the entry as a scene where Kennedy allegedly pulled over on I-684 to cut the genitals off a dead raccoon while his children waited in the car.
In that account, Vincent quotes the journal entry as saying Kennedy was “cutting the penis out of a road-killed raccoon,” reflecting on how “weird” some of his family members had become, and Vincent reported that Kennedy intended to “study” the body part.
Kennedy, during his 2024 presidential bid, told reporters: “I’ve been picking up roadkill my whole life. I have a freezer full of it.” His comments came as reporting from The New Yorker described him picking up a dead bear cub by the side of a road.
He also spoke about another roadkill moment during an August 2024 conversation with comedian Roseanne Barr. Kennedy said he saw a car hit and kill a bear during a 2014 hiking trip in upstate New York. He said he put the corpse in his car. planned to skin it. and intended to “put the meat in (his) refrigerator.” According to his description to Barr. he drove around with it all day—including visiting a steakhouse in Brooklyn—before dumping the body in Central Park when he realized he needed to catch a flight.
Kennedy told Barr he thought it would be “amusing for whoever found it,” describing plans to stage the bear’s body as if it had been hit by a bicycle in the park. The six-month-old cub’s unexplained presence in Central Park triggered a 10-year mystery.
Kennedy’s animal handling has also been tied to concerns from family members. He is described as an experienced falconer who keeps and trains birds of prey. His cousin. Caroline Kennedy. wrote to senators during his confirmation hearing to become health secretary. calling him a “predator.” In her letter. she alleged an “oft-occurring ‘perverse scene of despair and violence’” and said Kennedy “enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks.”.
And even as the debate over wildlife treatment continues, Kennedy has maintained that his body has its own odd storylines. He told The New York Times in 2025 about “a parasitic worm that ‘got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died. ’” while whether that qualifies as an animal welfare issue remains part of an ongoing argument.
Taken together with the May 26 video—snakes lifted in bare hands on Oz’s patio. a bite during the moment. and a wife urging release—the episode is less an isolated stunt than another chapter in a public pattern: animals. kept close and handled directly. with the line between curiosity and risk repeatedly pulled taut.
RFK Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Cheryl Hines Dr. Mehmet Oz Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services HHS snakes black racer Florida Museum animal welfare roadkill wildlife videos political scrutiny