15ft Rattlesnake

[lesofprimus]

I wonder how many bands this one had on its rattler.... One band per year of life....

Gotta be 15 to 20 years old....

Rattlers will usually get that rattle making some noise prior to striking, but it doesnt always happen that way....

Riddick is correct on his posts above as well.... The venom is as potent in a baby snake as it is in the one above, it never gets stronger, but the amount that a large one can inject into u is massive...

 

[Messy1]

Glad it was in St Augustine versus my own back yard!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Beautiful snake! Too bad they killed it.

On a side note, rattlesnake meat is very good. I tried it at the Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo in Alabama. Won't eat them anymore though, probably because of my passion for snakes.

That second pic
based on assumptions obviously, but if the tail is touching the ground, that snake is as long again as that man is tall - it's got to be nudging 12 feet.

Dumbass question but if something that size bit you, you'd be dead, right?

Not necessarily. The size of the snake does not determine the amount of venom. Rattlers can even bite you without injecting venom. A rattler may strike at you to try and make you leave it alone, without wanting to waste its venom on something it might actually need it for. As others pointed out, bites without injecting venom are not uncommon The most dangerous believe it or not, are the small juvenile rattlesnakes, because they can not control or regulate the amount of venom yet.

On a side note...

Rattlers get a very bad rap. They are not monsters that go out there way to bite and kill humans. I used to see quite a bit of Eastern Diamondbacks and Timber Rattlers when I lived in the south. In all my encounters they always rattled their tail first, and most in the end would turn and slither away after a few moments, not wanting to waste energy on an engagement.

 

[Wurger]

Damn!! The only good snake is a dead snake IMO.

Some of guys can add " and fried or boiled " But I agree with you Andy.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Damn!! The only good snake is a dead snake IMO.

Some of guys can add " and fried or boiled " But I agree with you Andy.

C'mon Snakes aren't that bad. Would you rather come accross a few snakes or be over run by the disease carrying varmints, mice and rats to be particular, that the snakes prey upon?

Plus, many primitive archery afficianados like to back thier longbows with snake skins.

 

[Wurger]

In fact, a human is not a pig, eats all.

 

[jamierd]

the size is not related to the strength of the venom some of the worlds deadliest snakes wouldnt reach half that size

 

[diddyriddick]

Herpetologists long thought that one could determine the age of a rattlesnake by the number of rattles. This has been disproven in recent years.

 

[drgondog]

That second pic
based on assumptions obviously, but if the tail is touching the ground, that snake is as long again as that man is tall - it's got to be nudging 12 feet.

Dumbass question but if something that size bit you, you'd be dead, right?

Colin - if it was a Brown - yes.

The Rattler, except for Mojave, all have hemotoxic venom so a massive injection is treatable given a couple of hours - but there would be massive muscle tissue loss.

I have seen a LOT of rattlers in Texas, Mexico, Georgia, Florida, etc - never one over 6 1/2 to 7 feet. I've seen Bushmasters in the 10 ft range in Panama and Columbia areas but that Rattler is almost unbelieveable.

 

[Thorlifter]

I've seen Bushmasters in the 10 ft range in Panama and Columbia areas but that Rattler is almost unbelieveable.

The largest rattlesnake on record is 12 feet. As I said in my other post, I really don't believe that snake is 15 feet long, but it's still a big a$$ snake.

 

[Njaco]

awful big for a native species.

I picked up a 11ft redtail boa last week and the rattler in that pic appears to be a smidge longer.

 

[Thorlifter]

Just looked at the pic again.

Note the men in the background and how far back they are. (I don't blame them). It's going to give the perspective that the snake is bigger than it really is. We don't see a complete pic of the snake from head to tail. My complete guess is it's probably 7-9 feet long.

 

[RabidAlien]

I was thinkin the same thing, Thor...the fact that they're farther back increases the impression that the snake is huge. Plus, the guy in the background has probably stepped down off the curb (again, don't really blame him). That, and the fact that this "monster, record-breaking snake" was killed and its head lopped off and body carted away by an animal control officer BEFORE it could be measured. One would imagine that an animal-control officer would recognize an extraordinarily large snake and want to at least take some credit in its capture and official recording. Huge, yes. 15-feet? I have my doubts. Tasty? Undoubtedly!