Posted on 09/30/2009 11:08:20 PM PDT by JoeProBono
Giant Rattlesnake Slithers Its Way Into St. Augustine Townhouse Community
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. -- The trappers who caught and killed a giant rattlesnake in St. Johns County said the snake was 7 feet 3 inches long.
Experts said it's one of the biggest rattlesnakes they've ever seen.
The rattlesnake slithered its way into Tuscany Village, a St. Augustine townhouse community, over the weekend.
Someone spotted the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, now being called Rattzilla, near homes off State Road 16 and Interstate 95 and called police.
Police then called Brandon Booth, a professional trapper. Booth said that when he pulled up, he realized how big and dangerous the rattler was.
"When I got there, I looked at it and said, 'That's bigger than 6 feet,'" Booth said. "I didn't have time to really think. I just jumped out of the truck with my gig and got him. He wasn't going to get away."
Booth said he had no choice but to kill the venomous snake because there were lots of people around and a venomous snake that big could easily kill someone.
He said he usually won't kill a snake unless it's venomous.
"I wasn't going to let him get away, so I just went ahead and did what I had to do," Booth said. "There's a lot of kids in that neighborhood and even adults, so I figured it was the best thing to do. I'm not a snake wrestler."
Right now, the snake is sitting in Booth's freezer until he decides what to do with it. The snake was frozen after it was killed and shrunk considerably in size because the muscles were no longer relaxed.
That would make a bunch of hatbands.
Good gravy that things enormous. I wonder how much venom those fangs could pump into a victim. I’m assuming it would be exponentially more dangerous than your normal 3-5 footer.
bookmark!!
Holy smoke, that’s a huge snake. It’s not only long but it’s fat too. I’ve killed several rattlers at my house but never one like that. I use a 410 to kill them, but I think it would take a 12 ga to kill that thing.
A mower hit one that that was about 7 ft. long on my school playground, when I was a kid. It was a diamondback but in southeast TX. ...didn’t know that there were subtypes (”eastern,” etc.). We were very accustomed to seeing snakes.
Aussie Sized Snake Ping!
Geesh, I just stayed in a motel at that intersection this past weekend. Right near the outlet malls.......wow....however, it was not a Holiday Inn Express.....(the other HI)
Yep. After seeing the pictures, the ones that were around us in SE TX were western diamondbacks. ...been a long time except for some Army NG time in hot climates. :-) In tropical places, animals that bite or sting are pretty thick. ...don’t miss that or the heat and humidity at all.
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