Biggest rattlesnake you've seen?

[Hart8]

A fella named Randy Nichols(friend of my dad's) Used to catch,and kill em all the time.Roundup,and such.He'd skin em,and tan the hides.He game me the biggest one he had.It was tacked up on my bedroom wall.8' ceilings,and it touched the floor.Gave me a few more over the years that were around 6',but nothing close to the big one.Haven't got the slightest idea where they are now.

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[BaconIsMyFriend]

While visiting with an acquaintance and discussing how the surrounding farm land had changed, he got to talking about a huge snake. Before the land behind his farm had been developed into a golf course, there used to be a couple of houses back in the distance. For a number of years, folks who lived in the area and had spent time along the creek, mentioned seeing an enormous snake that would sun itself on a fallen tree in the water. A caretaker of the property had tried numerous times to catch and kill it, but never could get close enough without being spotted.

The man I was talking to said he finally saw it when he was just a kid. It was just as big and as long as others claimed it to be, he said. Many attempts to sneak up and then leap into the water to try and grab it were always unsuccessful. From what I was told, it was just too fast. There was lots of brush on the opposite bank where it would quickly slither out of sight. Nobody could figure out what kind it could be. It was longer than most would believe unless they managed to catch a glimpse. The guy said it finally disappeared after a flood one year. He still doesn't have a clue what kind it was.

[M.E.B.]

The biggest snake I was ever really worried about was the 2.5 footer that was coiled up about 6" from my leg.

[okrattler]

While visiting with an acquaintance and discussing how the surrounding farm land had changed, he got to talking about a huge snake. Before the land behind his farm had been developed into a golf course, there used to be a couple of houses back in the distance. For a number of years, folks who lived in the area and had spent time along the creek, mentioned seeing an enormous snake that would sun itself on a fallen tree in the water. A caretaker of the property had tried numerous times to catch and kill it, but never could get close enough without being spotted.

The man I was talking to said he finally saw it when he was just a kid. It was just as big and as long as others claimed it to be, he said. Many attempts to sneak up and then leap into the water to try and grab it were always unsuccessful. From what I was told, it was just too fast. There was lots of brush on the opposite bank where it would quickly slither out of sight. Nobody could figure out what kind it could be. It was longer than most would believe unless they managed to catch a glimpse. The guy said it finally disappeared after a flood one year. He still doesn't have a clue what kind it was.

Interesting. I don't have any idea what it could have been either.

One of my grandpa's buddies had two huge snakes in his shed years ago. I don't exactly remember what they were but he had ordered something from, I'm wanting to say South America maybe? I don't remember but somehow the snakes had crawled in the crates or pallets or whatever the heck they shipped it on. Maybe it was stacks of tin or pipe.....Oh well I'm gonna have to ask now. Anyways they were snakes that ain't supposed to be in Oklahoma and they scared the crap out of him. I haven't thought about that in a long time and obviously I've dang near forgotten the story but I do know he killed both of them snakes.

I heard another story that years and years ago they brought in a bunch of pipe from South Texas that was loaded with Western Diamondbacks and dropped it off just North of some land my grandpa owns. How much truth to that there is I don't know. I've been huntin rattlesnakes for a long time and I've never seen a Diamondback here.

I don't know how likely it is that things like that happen but I suppose it could. I wouldn't think it would be easy to overlook a huge snake but it's a possibility. That snake you were talking about could have been the only snake of its kind in Texas. There just ain't no tellin.

[dustoffer]

LaSalle County, about 3 miles east of Los Angeles on Hwy 78

[okrattler]

LaSalle County, about 3 miles east of Los Angeles on Hwy 78

That sure enough wasn't no baby.

[mlmtx01]

My grandpa went up to our snake den to shoot snakes several years ago. He told us he shot a huge rattle snake but it crawled back into the den. I went the next week. I usually take a long pvc pipe with a 10/0 hook wired to the end. I can usually fowl hook a few snakes and bring them out. I hooked the dead one and pulled him out. He was 6'11" with 14 rattles broke off. He was already pretty nasty and his hide was ruined. Wish cell cameras would have been around back then.


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[dustoffer]

That sure enough wasn't no baby.

Three of us were driving the perimeter of the place and my son said "Look at that" Jim and I said "What?" and he pointed and said "That snake." Jim hopped out and popped him with his .357---and this was the 2nd week of January and it was out and active.

[Livin'2hunt]

Coachwhips come in all sorts of colors. Personally I've never seen a black one but there are some in places that get pretty dark in color. The largest I've seen was 7 to 7 1/2 foot long. And he was as big around as I've ever seen any others. Other than that I can't really think of what else it could have been based off of fast snakes that would live in Central Texas except maybe a Texas Rat Snake. Which are darker in color for the most part.

Coachwhips are very streamlined and thin. This sucker was enormous like nothing I've never seen in the wild and I've seen some Big A indigos. I'd say, in the middle, it was close to as big around as a clay pigeon and very dark in color. I say fast but I don't mean it was sleek and built for speed. This speed came from power and length. It was so freakin' big, I had no idea it was a live animal until I almost ran it over. It took a minute for what I was saw to sink in. Put it this way, I pulled up to it in an F-150 and it decided to head back toward the brush (toward its tail). It didn't turn and slither away....it picked up its head high enough that I saw it over the hood of my truck, fell to the ground and was gone like a shot. Crazy stuff.

[okrattler]

Coachwhips are very streamlined and thin. This sucker was enormous like nothing I've never seen in the wild and I've seen some Big A indigos. I'd say, in the middle, it was close to as big around as a clay pigeon and very dark in color. I say fast but I don't mean it was sleek and built for speed. This speed came from power and length. It was so freakin' big, I had no idea it was a live animal until I almost ran it over. It took a minute for what I was saw to sink in. Put it this way, I pulled up to it in an F-150 and it decided to head back toward the brush (toward its tail). It didn't turn and slither away....it picked up its head high enough that I saw it over the hood of my truck, fell to the ground and was gone like a shot. Crazy stuff.

Well I'll be dang. I don't know what you saw but I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that sumbuck wasn't native to Texas but could sure thrive like he was meant to be there.

[Pullersboy]

I've only encountered a few rattlers in the wild. No big ones. Aso a kid, I used to kill a bunch of snakes around our place. There's a creek running through it. And, at the time an overabundance of Moccasins. The two biggest I killed were 48" and 48.5" which is just about as big as those dudes get. One of those, I pinned his head down, picked his stinky butt up and carried him into the house to show my mom (dad was out of town) she was in the kitchenext cooking dinner. I was just so impressed with his size that I had to show someone. She freaked a little when I walked in with it. The when I told her it was a moccasin, she ended up on top of the counter. After I showed him off, I took him back outside and dispatched him w/ my trusty Sheridan .20 cal. pellet gun. That thing killed many, many snakes.

I think back on that and there's no way in heck I'd pick one of those things up now. That was pretty stupid. But, I had seen the snake handlers do it and it didn't look all that hard, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Fortunately it worked out well.

[okrattler]

This one was right around 5 foot completely stretched. But you talk about strong. He was strong no doubt about it. We got him measured to 53" and he wasn't nowhere near straightened out or relaxed. Looks like he's grinnin in the picture but trust me he wasn't happy.

[okrattler]

I've only encountered a few rattlers in the wild. No big ones. Aso a kid, I used to kill a bunch of snakes around our place. There's a creek running through it. And, at the time an overabundance of Moccasins. The two biggest I killed were 48" and 48.5" which is just about as big as those dudes get. One of those, I pinned his head down, picked his stinky butt up and carried him into the house to show my mom (dad was out of town) she was in the kitchenext cooking dinner. I was just so impressed with his size that I had to show someone. She freaked a little when I walked in with it. The when I told her it was a moccasin, she ended up on top of the counter. After I showed him off, I took him back outside and dispatched him w/ my trusty Sheridan .20 cal. pellet gun. That thing killed many, many snakes.

I think back on that and there's no way in heck I'd pick one of those things up now. That was pretty stupid. But, I had seen the snake handlers do it and it didn't look all that hard, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Fortunately it worked out well.

It usually works out pretty good for the most part but you can't ever get too comfortable doing it. As soon as you do it don't take long for things to go wrong. I saw a buddy of mine get hit on the hand by a 5 1/2 footer this year. Know another guy missing a finger from a 12" Prairie Rattler and he's been doing it for more years than I've been alive. I've been catching snakes of some kind or another since I was 7 years old. Went almost 20 years without any problems. But being an idiot and treating them like they couldn't hurt me caught up with me. It can sure happen and it happens quick.

[Pullersboy]

It usually works out pretty good for the most part but you can't ever get too comfortable doing it. As soon as you do it don't take long for things to go wrong. I saw a buddy of mine get hit on the hand by a 5 1/2 footer this year. Know another guy missing a finger from a 12" Prairie Rattler and he's been doing it for more years than I've been alive. I've been catching snakes of some kind or another since I was 7 years old. Went almost 20 years without any problems. But being an idiot and treating them like they couldn't hurt me caught up with me. It can sure happen and it happens quick.

Yeah, I won't being doing that again with any snakes of a venomous variety.

[okrattler]

Yeah, I won't being doing that again with any snakes of a venomous variety.

I would tell you I ain't either. But I'd just be lying to ya. So I won't. I'm gonna be more careful. That I will say.

The funny thing is seeing another person get bit freaked me out more than seeing myself get bit. I don't know why. I don't quite understand that. I wasn't at all scared when I got bit. Maybe I was in shock. I really don't know.