15 Foot Eastern Diamond Back Rattlesnake! (ahem)

**Phog Allen** · 04-05-2011, 03:42 PM

Gents, I had to pass this on. There is currently a spate of emails floating around purporting to show a 15 foot long Eastern diamond back rattlesnake that allegedly weights 170lbs. The snake is real. The specifics are not.

Monster snake, yes? Well yes it is. But according to hoax slayer it is "only" 7'3" in length. What gave it away as a hoax to me was a fifteen foot Eastern would be a world record times two. Also, there is no way it would weigh seventy pounds. Let alone one hundred and seventy. Still. If you look at the size of the serpent's fangs you get the idea these are naught to fool with.

I only bring this up since spring has sprung in the U.S. and the snakes are coming out of winter hibernation. People have this incredibly silly notion that venomous snakes from America do not pose a real health hazard. Please, do not fall for this. Yes, most of our poisonous snakes would rather be left alone but do NOT make the mistake of thinking these things cannot kill you. They can. But what is worse is the crippling effects of their hemotoxic venom.

You see, while the cobras, mambas, boomslangs, and Fer de Lance get all the press, the most sophisticated venom delivery in snakes comes from our American rattlesnakes. Most neurotoxic snakes bite you and chew which releases venom into your wound. They cannot control their venom and it comes out and into you whether they want to or not. Our pit vipers are different. With their folding, hypodermic fangs, they can can give you no venom, a dribble, from one fang but not the other, or worse case, a full load from both fangs. It is incredible to find that many snake bites here are "dry". No venom. Pretty wild eh?

Just be careful out there. Pit vipers are nothing to fool with. And the Eastern is actually Americas most deadly snake. More bite victims die of its bite than any other snake in the U.S. It has a nasty combination of hemo and neurotoxic venoms.

Regards, Todd

**ScoutHikerDad** · 04-05-2011, 05:20 PM

Wow-Even at 7 feet, that is an immense diamondback. Those things are very rare nowadays (at least in our South Carolina lowcountry) after decades of round-ups, killing for the meat, skins, etc.

I run into the occasional timber/canebrake rattlesnake in the North Carolina mountains where I camp and fish, like this one last summer:

Sorry for the crappy pic, but I wasn't about to try to "pose" this guy.

I came across another one at Scout camp a few summers back, right in the middle of a boys' tent area, swallowing a squirrel. We got the ranger to put it in a sack and carry it far off.

And yes, though their venom is very dangerous, bites are rare (much less fatal ones with the advent of modern antivenins), and statistically often occur on the arms of males in their teens and 20's, often with alcohol involved. "Hey, y'all, watch this." Actually, in the US bee stings pose a far greater danger, and account for many times more deaths. Still, it's always a good idea in the summertime outdoors to watch where you plant your feet. Aaron

**stobes21** · 04-06-2011, 07:45 AM

I worked at a summer camp for a couple of summers when I was younger. I had two run ins with venomous snakes. The first was when I was walking a group of campers back to our cabin up a paved road on a hill. I heard that distinctive rattle and immediately stopped. About 10 feet in front of us was a rattler (I don't know enough about snakes to identify the particular variety). Let me tell you that trying to convince 8 teenage boys not to mess with a snake that close to them is quite a challenge. Fortunately I managed to keep them away from it and it slithered off into the woods.

The second time I had a group of kids playing a team version of flashlight tag. My group was hiding in a dry creekbed and one of my kids was bitten by a cottonmouth. Of course he didn't tell me that until after the game was over a half hour later. Judging from the distance between the fang marks it was a pretty good sized snake, but after a trip to the hospital he was fine. He was like 14 and insisted everyone call him "snakebite" the rest of camp.

**Greyfox** · 04-06-2011, 07:58 AM

I know that the danger from snakes is a bit overhyped but I will tell you that they sure can make you hurt yourself!

**mmack66** · 04-06-2011, 08:08 AM

Well, at least that guy in the OP had a golf club and what might be a rake, so he was ready.

**smokelaw1** · 04-06-2011, 09:06 AM

I managed to somehow not get bitten by a copperhead (perhaps it was cool enough to be sluggish) that was hanging out in a small crevice in a cliff I was climbing. Hand went in, Pulled myslef up, was setting a small nut (protection in case of falls in traditional rock climbing) when I happened to look into where my hand had just been. There it was, looking at me....small copperhead known to frequent the area. I removed my groin from the area (I was now straddling the pocket that the snake was in, and briskly moved on.

I've watched enough discovery channel to be respectful of poisonous snakes, and have not climbed in that area since. WHEW!

**Austin** · 04-06-2011, 09:19 AM

That would make a great pair of boots.

**BrianL** · 04-06-2011, 09:28 AM

I am glad that one was not found in my pool.

**mandoman** · 04-06-2011, 09:33 AM

Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherf@#%ing snakes on this motherf@#%ing plane! or pools and in front of houses

**fireengineer2004** · 04-06-2011, 12:54 PM

Originally Posted by Phog Allen

Gents, I had to pass this on. There is currently a spate of emails floating around purporting to show a 15 foot long Eastern diamond back rattlesnake that allegedly weights 170lbs. The snake is real. The specifics are not.

Monster snake, yes? Well yes it is. But according to hoax slayer it is "only" 7'3" in length. What gave it away as a hoax to me was a fifteen foot Eastern would be a world record times two. Also, there is no way it would weigh seventy pounds. Let alone one hundred and seventy. Still. If you look at the size of the serpent's fangs you get the idea these are naught to fool with.

I only bring this up since spring has sprung in the U.S. and the snakes are coming out of winter hibernation. People have this incredibly silly notion that venomous snakes from America do not pose a real health hazard. Please, do not fall for this. Yes, most of our poisonous snakes would rather be left alone but do NOT make the mistake of thinking these things cannot kill you. They can. But what is worse is the crippling effects of their hemotoxic venom.

You see, while the cobras, mambas, boomslangs, and Fer de Lance get all the press, the most sophisticated venom delivery in snakes comes from our American rattlesnakes. Most neurotoxic snakes bite you and chew which releases venom into your wound. They cannot control their venom and it comes out and into you whether they want to or not. Our pit vipers are different. With their folding, hypodermic fangs, they can can give you no venom, a dribble, from one fang but not the other, or worse case, a full load from both fangs. It is incredible to find that many snake bites here are "dry". No venom. Pretty wild eh?

Just be careful out there. Pit vipers are nothing to fool with. And the Eastern is actually Americas most deadly snake. More bite victims die of its bite than any other snake in the U.S. It has a nasty combination of hemo and neurotoxic venoms.

Regards, Todd

I once hit a eastern diamondback with my CJ. It was in the process of crossing the goat path I was using. It was at LEAST 1 foot on either side of the jeep! Being in soft sand, it slithered off - once I got off it...

Now I've heard, some - IMHO - idiot is keeping a cobra and a green momba in his garage in the district where I work. As if fighting fires was not dangerous enough

**ScoutHikerDad** · 04-06-2011, 03:20 PM

Smokelaw1-As a climber you probably already know this. Anywhere in the US that you find rattlers and copperheads (especially rattlers), they favor (and den up in) rocky outcroppings on sunny slopes with a southern exposure, which gives them the ability to sun themselves and seek cooler temps in the rock crevices.

That's why, whenever I'm bushwhacking in areas like this, I'm extra careful (NOT a rockclimber, though-too scared of heights!).

**SO758** · 04-06-2011, 03:36 PM

To me, all snakes are man eating, ferocious, blood thirsty, monsters which I will go out of my way to dispatch!

**ScoutHikerDad** · 04-06-2011, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by SO758

To me, all snakes are man eating, ferocious, blood thirsty, monsters which I will go out of my way to dispatch!

I know a lot of people feel this way, but this attitude is part of the reason many ecosystems are so out of balance. Kill off all the snakes, and I hope you like rats (and the diseases they carry-plague, hantavirus to name a few) and their other prey. At the other end of the spectrum, we have all heard about the havoc wrought by all the invasive species released in Florida-pythons breeding like mad and eating up the native fauna, etc. So it works both ways anytime a natural balance is upset.

As an example, on many beautiful old hardwood-dominated Southern college campuses, the squirrels have taken over. They are not hunted, rarely run over on grassy campuses, and have few natural predators in that environment. In the last couple of years they have broken into buildings at Clemson, for example, and chewed through network wiring, and just caused general havoc.

Also, I'm reminded of the proven benefits of reintroducing the long-absent gray wolf populations into Yellowstone in '96. The now-thriving wolf packs are keeping elk and bison on the move, which allows the stream-side riparian habitats to come back in a big way, which has had a huge positive impact on once-threatened birds, native fish, and other species; of course, now all the ranchers around Y'stone are pissed, so it's a delicate balance, especially with man as the apex predator. But it's all connected.

I don't mean to sound pedantic-just something to think about the next time you chop up a snake with a hoe. Obviously, this is an issue I'm passionate about, so please don't take my rant personally.

Aaron

**Phog Allen** · 04-06-2011, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by fireengineer2004

I once hit a eastern diamondback with my CJ. It was in the process of crossing the goat path I was using. It was at LEAST 1 foot on either side of the jeep! Being in soft sand, it slithered off - once I got off it...

Now I've heard, some - IMHO - idiot is keeping a cobra and a green momba in his garage in the district where I work. As if fighting fires was not dangerous enough

Now this is where I have a real issue. Where I live in Kansas neither of these creatures would survive one winter if they escaped. However, they would be a hazard in our semi tropical spring and summer. But Florida? What is WRONG with these people's thinking? As has been mentioned, look at the utter havoc a breeding population of boa constrictors is causing. I would not worry about a breeding bunch of green mambas but the climate would let it survive year after year. How many people and pets would it endanger? Greens are not nearly as poisonous as the black variety but they are a still an exotic, neurotoxic, deadly snake and I would wager only a few hospitals in Florida would have access to antivenin. Yeesh. That is flat out scary. Now lets throw a cobra into the mix just for funnies. I would wager Florida's wildlife and parks department would have a great interest in this chap.

Regards, Todd

**smitty** · 04-06-2011, 07:41 PM

leave them alone and they will leave you alone!!! all they wount is 3 things food to eat heat to stay warm and a safe place to hide

**smitty** · 04-06-2011, 08:06 PM

and that golf club was a snake hook it used to move them and pin there heads so you can work safer

**ChristianC** · 04-06-2011, 10:00 PM

The hell? That thing is like a king cobra, what an incredible product of nature, I hope they dont kill it or anything.

**johnnyxxl** · 01-28-2012, 01:53 PM

I have had cotton mouths fall in my canoes while leading groups on trips.

**rxonmymind** · 01-28-2012, 03:53 PM

I'll give them their space. I just as soon walk away and say Peace!

**camjr** · 01-29-2012, 05:22 AM

I've run into more rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins than I care to count here in Texas. My dear departed Australian Shepherd was struck on the top of the head on two different occasions by rattlesnakes, and survived both encounters to simply die of old age. I've had close calls, but have never had a snake actually strike at me. My friends and I used to go down to Sweetwater, TX while we were in college at Texas Tech for the Rattlesnake Roundup and actually go out and bring them in from the pastures, fields, and open country. Good times...

There are areas of Texas and specific environments around here that we just know to be more careful and aware.

Cheers!