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I'm sure the snake is smaller than it looks in the picture but look at the size of the rattles. Glad ours are smaller.
Big snake, good eating. I have had rattler in Texas. The skin would be great too.
Yup. I've eaten then too, in Wyoming.
The meat has the texture of fish, and tastes like chicken!!
Trick photography is a 6' snake, when they pose like this for a picture, holding the snake out in front of the person, the picture looses all credibility.
Thumper, you are right but it still is a big snake. They guy should have held the snake in his hand and it would have been a better picture. I have seen fish, alligators and hogs filmed this way.
Delivered cabinets to one of our customers down around Carbondale, IL a few weeks ago. He showed us a picture of a timber rattler he came across while mushroom hunting back in april.
OMGosh this thing was huge! The first clue was the fact he actually spotted it 20-30ft away. This thing had a diameter of 6-8" and it wasn't in one spot like it had just eaten something, it was for a majority of its body. He said it was between 6-7ft long.
He said he's not really afraid of snakes, but he left that one alone!!
I'm so thankful I live just far enough north in Southern Illinois that we don't have rattlers. Just copperheads and cotton mouths, but they are few and far between....
Yes the rattle snakes grow big in South Tx. My son and I went on a fishing trip to Choke Canyon Lake near Three Rivers Tx when he was about 10 yrs old. We were throwing buzz bait over lily pads when my son said there was a snake in the water, sure enough there was a rattlesnake in the water chasing the buzz bait. It was the biggest snake I've ever seen in the wild 4 1/2 -5 feet in length. Scary part was the damn thing followed the boat when I hit the trolling motor trying to get away from it. After that we decided to fish in open water. Rattle snakes are very good swimmers.
Sleepyhunter, I have caught bullfrogs on buzzbaits. I have caught water snakes, not poisonous, on my fly rod. I cut the leader and let them have the little poppers. Rat snakes can swim very well also.
Yes sir Lex, there is something about a snake swimming in the water that's scary as hell to me. I also hate how Cotton mouth's hang in the trees over the water.
I know people who are scared of snakes just like a little girl....it's pretty funny watching them scream and run away from harmless animals mostly.
cottonmouths are aggressive...they will swim right at you and climb in your canoe if you let'em do it. Mostly I don't mess with'em but I'd like to catch one once just to have done it.
Well come see me then, SA.
I can put you on 10 before lunch.
But be warned, we don't do catch and release down here. ;-)
Man, there's some sissies here. :-)
I was deer hunting some new to me property 20+ years ago and a buddy was showing me the lay of the land. We were in the timber and there is a fallow field in front of us with pretty tall grass. I saw something moving in the grass, maybe 20-30 yards away. I pointed it out to Rob and about that time I figured out it was a big snake, cruising threw the grass like a Cobra with his head above the grass. I turned to Rob to say something about it being a big snake and he was already 100 yards behind me and making for the truck...Funniest thing I saw all year...8^)
Here's another place in Texas you don't want to walk around at night.
If you've ever been around these Goony birds you can imagine the noise they are making. Largest official eastern was 7'8". A 15 pound was largest weight. I would not want to step on one of those critters. I just mounted one that was big for around here. It was 40" and had a 5-1/4" circumference. Nothing close to an eastern.