Ginormous Rattler

[GIBrat51]

Similar but with a distinctive flavor that's unique to all cold blooded animals. Kinda hard to describe. The flavor also fades quickly since there's barely any fat on the meat.

I've eaten several kinds of snakes besides rattlers (some venomous, some not) as well as alligators, crocodiles, and iguanas (pretty much a staple in back-country Pamama). To me, yes, they do taste very much like chicken, but the texture of the meat is more like lobster. I quite like it, and the Crocodile Ratatouille I had in Zaire many years ago was one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten.

 

[bachlover]

I've eaten several kinds of snakes besides rattlers (some venomous, some not) as well as alligators, crocodiles, and iguanas (pretty much a staple in back-country Pamama). To me, yes, they do taste very much like chicken, but the texture of the meat is more like lobster. I quite like it, and the Crocodile Ratatouille I had in Zaire many years ago was one of the most delicious meals I've ever eaten.

Add "Ratatouille" to pretty much anything and you've got a winner!

 

[placedesjardins]

I hate snakes.
I really hate large snakes.
I really, really hate ginormous rattlesnakes.

 

[Snakeman1066]

I hate snakes.
I really hate large snakes.
I really, really hate ginormous rattlesnakes.

lol

I like snakes more than most people

and I would love to see a ginormous rattler!..lol

 

[fhm555]

Pat Long was sitting in a ground blind with his son, hunting hogs near Midway, GA.

This rattler stuck its head into the blind. The son shot it in the head with a .22 pistol.

9.5' Long, Head is 5.5" wide and Fangs are 2.5" long. He said it had 20 rattles.

It had the bones of 3 little pigs in its stomach.

Don't know if this is more photoshop or not, and can't personally vouch for the stats, but I've seen eastern diamondbacks this big and bigger down in the tri states area of the south.

 

[Lobster11]

Pat Long was sitting in a ground blind with his son, hunting hogs near Midway, GA.

This rattler stuck its head into the blind. The son shot it in the head with a .22 pistol.

9.5' Long, Head is 5.5" wide and Fangs are 2.5" long. He said it had 20 rattles.

It had the bones of 3 little pigs in its stomach.

Don't know if this is more photoshop or not, and can't personally vouch for the stats, but I've seen eastern diamondbacks this big and bigger down in the tri states area of the south.

According to this page, this happened in Midway, Texas, and the snake had 22 rattles.

Really, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet.

 

[RED J]

Hey there are huge snakes, but the exception rather than the rule.We have lots of copperheads in these parts I've seen one ~ three feet long, but the average one you will see is maybe 18-20 inches. I have had two encounters so far this year but they have slithered peacefully into a stone wall. They do however all look as big as the OP pic when you encounter them unexpectedly.
You have to separate fact fiction and folklore for sure.

 

[placedesjardins]

lol

I like snakes more than most people

and I would love to see a ginormous rattler!..lol

I have handled one snake. A friend in college brought his one weekend. It was kind of cool because as the snake moved around my arm, it turns out there are segments of the snake that remain straight as it moved. He said it was fed recently so it wouldn't bite me. It was some brown and white colored snake.
Anyway, a black garden snake slithered away from me in some shrubbery in front of my house. I jumped like it was a cobra or something. I was startled. I'm a big chicken of sorts.

 

[Snakeman1066]

According to this page, this happened in Midway, Texas, and the snake had 22 rattles.

Really, you can't believe everything you read on the Internet.

again a bounty still stands for any rattler over 8 feet and again no one has ever collected it!

 

[fhm555]

again a bounty still stands for any rattler over 8 feet and again no one has ever collected it!

so that proves there are no large snakes? I spent a lot of time in Florida fishing in the gulf and a lot of people lived by the records for certain species, but a record that stood for sixty years or more got bested from time to time. I also saw a lot of record fish get cleaned and eaten after being weighed. Until you mentioned it here I've never heard of a big snake bounty, and I know several serious snake hunters in these parts. If they know about it they never mentioned it to me. I'll make a point to mention it to them though. Who knows, someone might get lucky. Also, if I gave the impression the really big snakes are common that is my bad. I'm pushing sixty and I've seen at most 7 easterns over 9 feet in my life and considering who killed them, I'm not surprised any of them got reported beyond a local church bulletin or general store gossip bench.

 

[Lobster11]

so that proves there are no large snakes? I spent a lot of time in Florida fishing in the gulf and a lot of people lived by the records for certain species, but a record that stood for sixty years or more got bested from time to time. I also saw a lot of record fish get cleaned and eaten after being weighed. Until you mentioned it here I've never heard of a big snake bounty, and I know several serious snake hunters in these parts. If they know about it they never mentioned it to me. I'll make a point to mention it to them though. Who knows, someone might get lucky. Also, if I gave the impression the really big snakes are common that is my bad. I'm pushing sixty and I've seen at most 7 easterns over 9 feet in my life and considering who killed them, I'm not surprised any of them got reported beyond a local church bulletin or general store gossip bench.

I agree that this in itself doesn't prove anything. Sure, it's possible that people have record-breakers but not made an effort to substantiate the claim. However, I remain highly skeptical because (1) evidently NOBODY who has seen a true 9-footer has ever stepped forward to substantiate the claim, and (2) all such claims that HAVE been made have been discredited, as in the examples in this thread.

Also, I don't think a bounty, if there is one, really matters. People are sufficiently motivated by the desire to get their 15 minutes of fame. I have to think that anyone who regards himself as a rattlesnake hunter would be eager to get credit for killing a record-breaker, irrespective of any monetary reward.

 

[Snakeman1066]

The simple answer here is that no one has EVER reliably recorded a rattlesnake over 8 feet long. For as long as there have been reptile researchers and herpetologists, and for as long as records have been kept, there have been NO credible reports or actual measured specimens of that size. An 8-foot plus rattlesnake of any species would be a world record. In spite of what you might see and hear there are only two, maybe three, species that could even come close to growing that big (Western Diamondback – Crotalus, atrox; Eastern Diamondback – Crotalus adamanteus; Mexican West Coast – Crotalus basiliscus).

WANTED: 8 Foot Rattlesnake – Reward!

Since the mid-1950’s, there bas been a reward offered for an 8-foot plus rattlesnake. Regularly the dollar amount has increased as the years have gone by. Never once, in almost 60 years, has anyone brought in a rattlesnake that came even close to being over 8 feet long. If it is over 8 feet long, delivered live and in good condition, there exists a $25,000 reward for it!

 

[fhm555]

...I have to think that anyone who regards himself as a rattlesnake hunter would be eager to get credit for killing a record-breaker, irrespective of any monetary reward...

And there you have your answer. The people I'm talking about are pulpwooders who live back in the sticks, we're talking serious down a dirt road then out through a cow pasture sticks. These are people who for the most part can't read and write. When they kill a rattler, they just toss it aside and keep working. Where they go off in the woods after pine, there are plenty of snakes and snake killing is just another part of their job, it's not a big deal to them and they are most certainly not concerned about recognition beyond the little crossroads community they live near. Sometimes they will know someone who likes snake or might buy one from them to eat so they will keep a few to sell, but otherwise they kill and keep on chopping pine tress down.

But if you are skeptical I can't change your mind.

 

[Lobster11]

And there you have your answer. The people I'm talking about are pulpwooders who live back in the sticks, we're talking serious down a dirt road then out through a cow pasture sticks. These are people who for the most part can't read and write. When they kill a rattler, they just toss it aside and keep working. Where they go off in the woods after pine, there are plenty of snakes and snake killing is just another part of their job, it's not a big deal to them and they are most certainly not concerned about recognition beyond the little crossroads community they live near. Sometimes they will know someone who likes snake or might buy one from them to eat so they will keep a few to sell, but otherwise they kill and keep on chopping pine tress down.

But if you are skeptical I can't change your mind.

My being "skeptical" doesn't mean that you can't change my mind; it just means I need a stronger case and/or better evidence to persuade me. Your point is well taken that the guys who live in places where they are most likely to encounter a monster might be the very guys who have no motivation (and/or ability) to advertise their find. I just have a hard time believing that given how many other people there out there who are so motivated (and able), not a single one of the them has ever found and documented one. I mean, you could make the same argument for the existence of Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman, right?

 

[kesslari]

The terms poison and venom are often used interchangeably, but they actually have very different meanings. It is the delivery method that distinguishes one from the other.

Poison is absorbed or ingested; a poisonous animal can only deliver toxic chemicals if another animal touches or eats it. Venom, on the other hand, is always injected. Every venomous animal has a mechanism (e.g., stingers, fangs, etc.) to inject toxins directly into another animal. It is for these reasons that some species of frogs are poisonous to touch or eat, while snakes are venomous when they use their fangs to bite.

Yep, a linguistic pet peeve of mine as well.

 

[kesslari]

lol

I like snakes more than most people

and I would love to see a ginormous rattler!..lol

That an emerald tree boa? Beautiful...

 

[Fawkesguy]

 

[Downunderwonder]

My being "skeptical" doesn't mean that you can't change my mind; it just means I need a stronger case and/or better evidence to persuade me. Your point is well taken that the guys who live in places where they are most likely to encounter a monster might be the very guys who have no motivation (and/or ability) to advertise their find. I just have a hard time believing that given how many other people there out there who are so motivated (and able), not a single one of the them has ever found and documented one. I mean, you could make the same argument for the existence of Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman, right?

How do you get close enough to an 8ft viper to catch it alive before it rears up and strikes you?

 

[GIBrat51]

Vewy, Vewy quietly..

How do you get close enough to an 8ft viper to catch it alive before it rears up and strikes you?

 

[Downunderwonder]

Don't they hear you through the ground before you see them?

And what's the evolutionary deal with the rattle on these giants? I don't think one or two cavemen would take on something that big unless very hungry? So rather than advertise it would make more sense to lay low rather than draw a crowd to stone you to death.