[rlmorel]

I know how big those Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes can get.

When I was in the USN back in the Seventies at Cecil Field in Northern Florida, they found one near the runway on the base, and they had a picture of it in the paper.

The guy was standing on the bed of a pickup truck, holding the snake by its neck straight out, and it was so big it was touching the ground and coiled up a bit where it touched it. The thick part of the body looked bigger than the fat end of a Louisville Slugger!

I had absolutely no idea those things could get that big!

[Publius]

Eastern and Western Diamondbacks have different personalities. The Western Diamondback lives by, "Strike first and ask questions later." The Eastern Diamondback is a larger snake, but you really have to piss it off to get it to strike.

He must have done something less than intelligent. Best thing is to leave rattlers alone. They have a job to do.

[John S Mosby]

They get that large in extreme age over 20 years old- and usually try to stay out of harm’s way. Eat their weight in rodents/rats/mice, and even other snakes. That big indeed.