big snake!!!
 

got this in an email





You need to forget about those itty, bitty snake-proof boots and find yourself a full snake-proof SUIT.., AND HAT!!!
The ranch where this big rattler was killed is outside the city of Coleman TX . Oh, for reference, the guy stands 6'2". Seems there's been a boom in the snake population there.


My fellow friends and family,

We have killed 57 rattlesnakes on two separate ranches this year. 24 @South bend & 33 @ Murray , since mid-May. Not one has buzzed! We provoked one fair sized boy with a stick and he coiled & struck at the stick a couple of times before he buzzed up and rattled. The purpose of this explanation is that I have been hearing the same from fellow ranchers and hunters in regards to the lack of warning with rattlesnakes. I had lunch with a friend today and he offered a theory about the fact that these bugs aren't rattling anymore. He raised pigs for years and reported that when he would hear a rattlesnake buzzing in the sow pen, the sows would bee line to it and fight over the snake. For the uninformed, pigs love to eat rattlesnakes. Therefore, the theory is they are ceasing to rattle to avoid detection, since there are plenty of pigs roaming the countryside. I have a neighbor ranching lady who was bitten 3 weeks ago, 2 times by the same snake without any warning....she spent 5 days in ICU, after 22 vials of anti-venom she is back at the ranch and still may lose her foot or worse yet her lower leg. The days of perceived warning are over. Keep your boots on and use a light when out and about. As you all know, one can pop up just about anywhere! You may wish to forward this to anyone that would be interested.

Ranchers in Wyoming told me they stopped rattling because of all the Windmills being put up.... WHich obviously led me to ask why.
He said that the windmills put a lot of vibration into the ground. Snakes feel vibration from us walking. With the windmills up they feel vibrations all the time, so they've quit rattling. Just another theory I guess. Obviously dependant upon windmills being in the area.
-Jake

I saw on discovery snake roundups have led to snakes that rattle being caught, and killed, therefore leaving snakes that tend to buzz less breeding...

The picture does not seem to match and I suspect some photo work had been done.
Also anything held away from the one's body will look bigger.

JW

That is still a good size snake. Be good on the fryin pan.. :)

Looks a lot like the snake that was killed south of Jacksonville, Fl a couple of years ago...................I don't think either of the pictures were real.

When I lived in NC I had a friend who used to snake hunt. He'd go right by the house I was renting on the side of the mountain overlooking the stream (beautiful). Here's some pics of him handling the snakes that I took. The snakes were right by our feet, not two-three feet away. The one he's milking is an eastern diamondback and the other is a timber rattler. He had a copperhead in the cage and a cottonmouth with a head the size of your fist. He was bit a few weeks before on the thumb and it was all black and swollen. He was in the hospital taking anti-venom and they wanted him to stay overnight for observation but he told them he couldn't because he was going on a big snake hunt the next day.

Oh, and the really big monster (eastern diamondbacks) like in the pic above all come from Florida. I've seen (my NC buddy) numerous actual pics of these things and they do exist and quite frequently. I've never seen big rattlers like that come from anywhere else.

The only good snake is...

Thats just showing ones ignorance about the subject. If I may interject on the subject, I was a herpetologist at one time working for the Fla. Wildlife sanctuary in Melbourne, fla., and have been bitten by 4 rattlers and a cotton mouth moccasin, the cottonmouth leaving my left index finger deformed and numbness. I also had a 21 ft Burmese python that I use to do seminars with, and also hold the Pygmy rattler record of 42 inches, so speaking, I know somewhat of the subject of snakes. For one thing, snakes don't hear, they just feel vibrations, they smell by sticking their tongue in and out picking up air particles. Snakes are cold blooded, that being, if the conditions are cool, they tend to be lethargic and you can almost step on them without them striking, much less rattling. People who think that rattle snakes rattle before biting, this is a misconception, but maybe in the ole western movies. Their are harmless snakes that vibrate their tails when alarmed and when they do it on dry leaves it sounds like a rattler. A copperhead which is actually a highland moccasin will do this also.
If you listen to all these ole wives tails your going to believe that they actually start chasing you.

Bobby

Sad to say but snakes were cursed after Adam and Eve. They are the devil. I only care for really a king snake because they EAT rattlesnakes.