You guys gotta check this out. Yeah it's real.




9 feet 1 inch long
97 pounds.
It was caught at an old military base in Wendover Utah, located at the Utah/Nevada border. It's about 90 miles from where I live.

This is one BIG snake.

BTW Tooele is pronounced Too-ell-uh.

Wow!

what kind of snake is it?

uh.... is that an Eastern Diamondback??

Thanks you dear God, for not letting me live there nor near neighbors who have such things

That's a beautiful snake! Wow!

It LOOKS like a rattler... look at its tail end...

Who's that in the picture? Animal Control?

We have rattlesnakes here in Florida, but you hardly see them. And the only time you see them that big (within city limits) is a released or escaped pet. (Or in Miami...)

It's a Western Diamondback. If the measurements can be verified, it is a new world record rattlesnake. The current world record rattlesnake is about 8 feet long and is in a museum in New Mexico.

I don't know who the guy is, I think he might be a property caretaker. We are having a lot of problems in Utah with rattlesnakes moving into urban areas. The heat, drought and wildfires are chasing them out of the mountains. We are keeping our grass mowed very short, and keeping all the weeds cut so there are no hiding places for them in our area.

Where a snake that big would hide is anybody's guess. If I saw a snake like that, it would take me a single jump to be perched on the roof of the building in the background, and I think that's where I would stay.

I saw this big guy's little itty bitty brother on a hike in Southern Utah several years ago, and when the little snake shook his tail at me, I nearly had a heart attack.

Yeah, we had a teeny version of that Western Diamondback literally sneak up behind us in Colorado a few years back. It just about scared us to death.

That is one HUGE rattlesnake!!!!

At least rattle snakes let you know when you're about to do something stupid.... Copperheads, not so curteous.

I hate snakes.....yick!!!

Pity they killed it.

Mac
exceptionally fond of snakes

When I lived in New York, that was the snake to look out for. Scary...

I've a healthy respect for them, but I still think they're beautiful. I hate that they are taken as pets, though. Just sad... and when folks get sick of them or they grow too big, poor things are dumped in to the swamp lands. Like the Burmese Python that made a meal of a baby 'gator in the Everglades. *shudder*

The python was not native to Florida... *sigh*

Ah crap! I was only off by..... a whole of a country.

My sentiments, exactly.

(But replace "Mac" with "SAK")

So cute!! I love snakes. Always have and always will.

That is one BIG snake. I don't mind snakes, but I have a healthy respect for the ones that can kill me.

I hate snakes, Jock! I hate 'em!

Snakes? Why'd it have to be snakes?



Where's MacGyver to crawl on his shoulders when you need him?
(ala "Halloween Knights", as if you didn't know...)


(by the way- I don't really hate snakes, but I couldn't pass up the chance to make the references... I've held snakes before- I don't mind them, but I definitely have a great respect of the ones that can kill me, as others said.)

Yeah! Snakes are very respectful creatures and beatiful.

That is one big honkin' snake.

*shudders all over*

I like the reference to Indiana Jones.

Well, that takes care of lunch . . .

and dinner . . .

and breakfast . . .

for a very large crowd.

Ya want fries with that?

Ewww... Gross

Western Diamondback with wild rice and mushrooms.... mmMmm!

... NOT!

I have a very healthy respect for a snake like this.

I think a snake like this would even have Mac climbing up on something, probably something very tall.

We also have snakes in Utah that imitate rattlesnakes. They're called blow snakes and they will vibrate their tails very rapidly in tall dry grass or leaves. They sound remarkably like rattlesnakes, have scared the crap out of me more than once. They will bite if harrassed, but they are non-poisonous. They also catch lots of mice and reattlesnakes won't live in the same area as blow snakes. Still doesn't stop them from scaring the hell out of people in the parking lot of the building I work in.

cool! The only snakes we have in Sweden is European viper and Grass Snake. They aren't that common and you very rarely see them.

I've never seen a real snake. We don't have anything like that in New Zealand. But over the years I have come to find them intriguing (thanks steve! ) and would love to be able to handle something like a python or one of the more friendlier breed of snakes.

Boas and pythons are great, Rock, and king snakes are a favourite of mine: very friendly and very good against vermin. It's amazing handling one -- the scales feel very smooth and soft, and the movement of the snake's muscles is unlike any other animal. Probably the biggest surprise the first time is likely to be that a healthy snake in a healthy environment is warm -- even though they're cold-blooded, if they're well-treated they will have been kept in a warm environment. As long as you don't scare them, they'll usually respond positively to the heat of your own skin. When you hold them, you have to support them, kind of like holding a baby -- a very wiggly baby.

Oddly enough, although I grew up in rattlesnake country, I have only seen one in the wild. They really do prefer to stay out of trouble, and they'll run away given half a chance.

I held a rainbow snake once- they're pretty nice. I wouldn't try for anacondas or boa constrictors or pythons though.
(Monty python is fairly safe though! )

The only kind of snake I have ever held is one of those small gardner ( I think that's the spelling )snakes, which are completely harmless.