[yarddog]

Diamondbacks are not slow.

They used to have a rattlesnake rodeo in Freeport, Florida.

Army Rangers from Camp Rudder on Eglin would come and demonstrate how fast they were. They would hold a balloon filled with warm air withing a couple of feet of the rattler and you could not even see the strike it was so fast.

They would also kill, skin, and clean them then batter fry in a deep kettle. The meat was white and clean looking but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat any. Others said it was very good. All you wanted for free.

[KTM rider]

all rattlers are fast at striking if they are coiled, what I meant is crawl speed. I could have outran a diamond back ,"back in the day" but not a Mojave green or sidewinder, a person would have no chance

I would not want to get within five snake lengths if it was coiled and hissing, no chance of catching a coiled snake ready to strike, coiled and sleeping in the cold , no problem