SNAKE BIG SNAKE BIG (((Updated))))))
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9FT 1 INCH 97 LBS FOUND IN MISSOURI Up date
I suspect that's a hoax. According to Tom Johnson's, The Amphibians and
Reptiles of Missouri, there are three rattlesnake species which are
native to MO-- timber, western pygmy and eastern massasauga; with the
timber rattlesnake being the largest. A little over 6 feet was the size
of the largest recorded specimen.
Here's an excerpt from a coworker's previous response to a similar
message:
I have seen this snake photo and was able to identify it as an eastern
diamondback rattlesnake. However, the background of this photo is
reminiscent of Florida or Georgia - not Poplar Bluff. The grasses are
not the common grasses you see down there. The native range for
Eastern
Diamondbacks exclusively coastal states from Louisiana to North
Carolina. For a snake that healthy to make it to Poplar Bluff is
unlikely because their habitat needs are not available outside their
range. It would be like you and I hiking a thousand miles through a
desert without provisions. My suspicion is the photo came from the
deep south and is being passed off as a local find.
Thanks for your interest in conservation.
Ken Drenon
Ken.Drenon@mdc.mo.gov
573/522-4115, ext 3848
Some of you guys are good snake experts and My hats off to you.[:D][:D][:p][^]
[:D][:D][:p][^]
9FT 1 INCH 97 LBS FOUND IN MISSOURI Up date
I suspect that's a hoax. According to Tom Johnson's, The Amphibians and
Reptiles of Missouri, there are three rattlesnake species which are
native to MO-- timber, western pygmy and eastern massasauga; with the
timber rattlesnake being the largest. A little over 6 feet was the size
of the largest recorded specimen.
Here's an excerpt from a coworker's previous response to a similar
message:
I have seen this snake photo and was able to identify it as an eastern
diamondback rattlesnake. However, the background of this photo is
reminiscent of Florida or Georgia - not Poplar Bluff. The grasses are
not the common grasses you see down there. The native range for
Eastern
Diamondbacks exclusively coastal states from Louisiana to North
Carolina. For a snake that healthy to make it to Poplar Bluff is
unlikely because their habitat needs are not available outside their
range. It would be like you and I hiking a thousand miles through a
desert without provisions. My suspicion is the photo came from the
deep south and is being passed off as a local find.
Thanks for your interest in conservation.
Ken Drenon
Ken.Drenon@mdc.mo.gov
573/522-4115, ext 3848
Some of you guys are good snake experts and My hats off to you.[:D][:D][:p][^]
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I have held on to a 15 ft. 87 lb. Burmese Python. It would have dwarfed that snake. If that snake weighed 97 lbs. it would have to be the diameter of a basketball @ only 9 ft.
That is laughable. The idiot's in this world....0 -
Seen a lot of diamondbacks in the Northern and Southern Senora, Baja, Mojave and the local Anza Borrego - never seen one over 6'6". Doubt they exist.[8D] 0 -
I'd jump out of my )&$()*$ boots and start running in the opposite direction if I saw a rattler that size. 0 -
You can easily outwalk them ... when they are that
size they are generally (always) pretty slow.[8D]0 -
I had ONE encounter with a rattlesnake in my whole life.
I was out walking around on a summer night, it was so dark I could barely see my hand in front of my face. kind of short grass, I could barely make out little bushes here and there that looked like dark blobs (it was so dark). I happened to have my gun slung on my side. you know how when they rattle they go "shika-shika-shika-shika" well I almost walked right over this one bush, went around it and just heard a "shik--" and something went WHACK on my buttstock and I felt something like a large, heavy rope fall off that and bounce off my leg on the way to the ground.
I don't know how I did it (like straight out of the cartoons) both my feet left the ground at the same time and I jumped about 5 feet (feet first, yelling) every hair on my body was sticking straight out. good thing I didn't drop my gun, cuz I sure as hell wasn't about to go back and get it.
other than that, never saw a live one.0 -
quote:Originally posted by john carr
Once I was riding my Kawasaki on a two lane road which for about two hundred yards was seperated by a concrete island. At the far end of the island I almost ran over a big rattler, coiled, with his head in the air, he watching a car coming from the opposite direction, I went to the first driveway, turned around and came back. Apparently he had struck at the car, it had gone over him, he was writhing around on the pavement. Big snake. Wish I could have gotten him. Never tasted rattlesnake but always wanted to. Will keep that recipe in case I do. Looks like the recipe a game warden's wife gave me to prepare snapping turtle. Never got to do that either.
I've been there and done that!
Back in the 70's I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, Ca. One sunny day while riding my Harley on the Base i came around a corner and there was a big Rattler in the road. He struck at me as i passed close by him. I was so angry that turned around and lifted my foot and made sure i ran over him on the second pass. I will never forget it.0 -
Sorry - that snake is a Western Diamondback - not an Eastern. When i lived in South Texas i saw many snakes as big as this one. It is not 9' or 90 lbs. Snakes this large are found in the 5-7' length. That is a fisherman's photo if i ever saw one! That appears to be buffle grass in the picture, which is common in southern/central texas. Also appears to be an older natural gas compressor station in the background. 0 -
DON'T KILL SNAKES!!!
Bid deal some hillbilly killed a snake. The snakes control a good deal of the rodent population. Snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them.
Just leave 'em alone!
Nobody ever gets chased by a snake, but there are plenty of people that go out of their way to mess with the snakes and that is where trouble starts.
And before you start. Yes, there are some limited circumstances when somebody accidently comes across a snake AND gets bit. But really how offen compaired to times when people mess with the snakes and that is the reason for getting bit.0 -
Good advice. I've only killed one in my life ... and I've seen many.
That one was missing it's rattles and the growth button was gone,
too. They sometimes lose them because of hawk attacks.
This one was close to human habitation (in the High Sierras) and it was
too dangerous to leave because of it's lack of warning. All the rest of
the snakes I've ever come upon have been given a wide berth and not
as much as a backward glance. They are God's creatures living where
they are supposed to be living.
... simple as that.[:D]0 -
quote: Nobody ever gets chased by a snake
Umm yes there is. There are aggresive snakes. Water Moccasins will chase people.
How you like these apples? http://www.uncoveror.com/potty.htm
I'll killem every chance I get. I'm definately more scared of them then they are of me. Ever seen a man 6'5" 290 lbs built like a defensive tackle scream like a girl and jump like Jordan? Put a snake in the path that I'm walking.0 -
quote:According to Harvey Schitz ???
You will not get far citing such authoritative references Kodiak. In point of fact snakes do not chase people, and those who claim to have been chased for any distance never looked back and claimed being chased to cover their cowardice. Cottonmouths will strike aggressively, coming off the ground, but do not chase people. Gimme a break, they can crawl all of 3mph. Some of the racers will indeed come right at you. If you stand your ground, they go beside you or even between your feet. sometimes the best defense is a good offense, and if you are busy screaming like a girl and hiking your skirts, they make a get away. There are also no hoop snakes, you cannot tell the age of a rattlesnake by counting segments of its rattle, toads do not give you warts, and friends don't let friends drink light beer.0 -
quote:Originally posted by lonz42
And before you start. Yes, there are some limited circumstances when somebody accidently comes across a snake AND gets bit. But really how offen compaired to times when people mess with the snakes and that is the reason for getting bit.texas, 1800's before antivenom, averaged 320 deaths a year. almost 1 a day.
currently, the worst place for snakebites is Sri Lanka, about 800 deaths a year. (at least those aren't rattlesnakes)0 -
I agree with TexasWildman on the species. I hate to disagree with fshfndr, but this snake is a Western diamondback (Crotalus atrox) with the characteristic black and white stripes at the tail--nickname "coontail". Based on the vegetation around the area, I would guess west-central Texas.
I also doubt the reported weight.
I have seen and personally dispatched a western that measured 6'2" and 14 rattles. Since they shed about twic a year and assuming that the rattler never broke any rattles off, that snake was appx 7 years old.0 -
If that is a 97 lb snake that man holding it is a 700 lb man. 0
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