Back in the ‘60s my kids came in yelling there was a “rattler” coiled up in the bushes (new-development in CA). Dad grabs his Ruger Single Six, finds the snake - it IS a rattler - and at five feet takes careful aim at the head - and misses. Emptied the revolver and only wounded it. Finally got a shovel and chopped the head off.
What really impressed me is that when I picked up the squirming body, it felt like I held a living wire cable. That sucker was TOUGH.
It’s odd the snake stayed there for you to get the shovel Strange.
This reminds me that I had fried rattlesnake as a six-year old, and I loved it.