Huge Rattlesnake Shot In Manor, Texas (With Pictures)

Usually when my mom sends me chain emails, I keep them in my inbox until she pesters me about reading them. But I was really glad I opened this one up. Apparently it was sent to my dad by a couple that he met when he was working in Texas.

The email to my dad reads

--Bet you don't see any this big in the cold country!!!
We are ok will write more later, take care!!!!!

_____

Subject: FW: H-U-G-E Rattlesnake shot in Manor!

> This snake was shot by a police officer in Manor yesterday. It was shot in
> the backyard of a house in the middle of a big neighborhood (not near any
> woods, fields, etc.). The woman's four children were playing in the yard at
> the time when they heard the rattle.
>
>
>
> Be careful when you're out in your yard! Snakes are looking for water and
> going into areas where you don't traditionally see them.

And for the picture:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/281d2d014550.jpg[/atsimg]

Typically rattlesnakes range from 3' to 4' in length
In ideal habitats where there is a constant, abundant supply of small rodents, the rattlesnake sometimes attains a length of 5 feet, but the average adult size is between 3 and 4 feet.

www.desertusa.com...

Over 20 different species of rattlesnakes are recognized in the United States. Some seldom reach a length of 2 feet and a few reach over 7 feet.

www.pestproducts.com...


Here's more about the snake:
discussions.texasbowhunter.com...

Brace yourselves for this picture... This bad boy measured 7 feet, 6 inches!!!!!!!!!
Police Chief Robert Snyder shot him this morning INSIDE a homeowner's nice yard in ShadowGlen, on the north side of 290. The lady had FOUR kids playing in the yard at the time!!!
Please be really careful to watch out for snakes. In this drought, they are coming in closer, looking for water. They just mentioned today that local ER's are noting a substantial rise in snakebite cases.
They're on the move...

This is about 2 miles from my office, never knew we had Rattlesnakes this big around Austin. This is next to Shadow Glen golf coarse. Looks like it ate someone's puppy or kitty

discussions.texasbowhunter.com...
That was posted 7/29 so this happened really recently.

Also in that forum, not for the squeamish, kids...
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/b48061373637.jpg[/atsimg]

discussions.texasbowhunter.com...
And also from that thread,

Just had to comment as I was sent an email regarding this snake 45 minutes ago. AT first I did not believe it as the only hit I got on a quick Google search resulted in a link to this thread.

As the person who sent it to me is a Texan (going way back) but now lives in Washington DC, I decided to call the police in Manor. A woman answered the phone and as I said, you might not understand my call and question but I am chec..." and she interrupted me, "Yes, the snake is real."

It seems they have gotten a lot of interest in this story and the TV people have been out there today to cover it - remember it happened on Monday.

Now the sheriff is no slouch and stands 6' 1" so you can tell from the photo it is one big mutha of a snake. No, they did not measure it but feel quite comfortable it was at least the 7' 6" claimed.

No, it did not have a German Shepherd, small child or the like inside BUT it did have that large rabbit and they conjecture that is why it was slightly lethargic.

Yes, there were children playing in the yard but they did not know how many. It seems the woman (owner?) was raking the yard and discovered the snake and called the police. The Chief showed up and dispatched the snake with a .410 shotgun in the backyard and not inside the house as some claim.

So my good friends in Texas and all over, that is the story behind the photos and I am sure this will become a Snopes story sooner than later and be around for years to come...

Diamondbacks look to be the largest. I'd say this is a western diamondback, but the picture doesn't really show the dorsal side. If anyone thinks otherwise, feel free to say so
Either way, it's a half-foot over the maximum length I can find for Eastern Diamondbacks (which it's not, because it was shot in Texas and not Florida) and an entire foot over the length for Western Diamondbacks (which it probably is). On average, anyway. If they didn't exactly measure it, I don't know, someone can do the proportions based on that guy's height.

biology.uta.edu...

The largest reported measurement for a western diamondback rattlesnake is 92.5 inches (Jones, 1997). Interestingly the second largest specimen to be measured was found in Cedar Hill, Texas and measured 92 inches. (Curtis, 1949). While gigantically proportioned specimens such as these are unlikely to be found in the wild again near Dallas, specimens measuring more than five feet in overall length are still found in southwestern Dallas County. The average size for adult specimens is between three to four feet.

92.5 inches is 7.71 feet. This guy could be pretty close to that. Amazing, right? The second runner up it says is 92 inches, which is 7.67 feet. He could be REALLY close to that. But who knows it's full length before they blew it's head off?

So, cool right? Thanks mom!!!


[edit on 8/1/2009 by ravenshadow13]

Somebody had better eat that thing. Thats a lot of food to go to waste.
Make a couple boots from the skin and youve got yourself a helluva catch.

reply to post by patientobserver


Judging by the area, I'm sure that someone got to be the lucky guy to take the meat home.

Although after seeing the bunny that was inside, I don't think I'd.... well, I wouldn't want to eat reptile anyway.

But that's me personally! And I'm not a veggie. But I bet if someone gave it to me and told me it was pheasant or something I'd believe them and like it.

That is a whopper of a rattlesnake.
Just this morning I saw a photo of a rattlesnake that was NINE feet long.

I'll see if I can dig it up.

Edit - www.hoax-slayer.com...

This particular snake may or may not be exactly 9 feet long, but it is a whopper. It doesn't weigh 97 lbs. though. And the one in my photo is a Western Diamondback. Hard to tell though if the OPs photo is or not, without seeing the whole thing.

[edit on 1-8-2009 by JayinAR]

[edit on 1-8-2009 by JayinAR]

reply to post by JayinAR


There is a thread about that particular image.
Let me find it.

Here it is:
World Record-Sized Western Diamondback Rattlesnake killed in Arizona

Looks like the consensus for that one is hoax, though.



Here's more for this one:

Adults commonly grow to 120 cm (3.9 ft) in length. Specimens over 150 cm (4.9 ft) are infrequently encountered, while those over 180 cm (5.9 ft) are very rare. The maximum reported length considered to be reliable is 213 cm (7.0 ft) (Klauber, 1972). Males become much larger than females, although this difference in size does not occur until after they have reached sexual maturity.

en.wikipedia.org...

[edit on 8/1/2009 by ravenshadow13]

reply to post by ravenshadow13


... and of course, they had to kill it.

That's a big snake though! Don't suppose I'd want to take the chance of capturing it alive either, but it just really irks me that someone finds something as rare as a snake that big and the first thing they do is blow it's head off. That snake had probably been around for a long time and it just happened to venture out where a bunch of humans had probably encroached on it's territory and now it's wasted.

reply to post by gemineye


Someone would have killed it eventually. I mean, it's very unfortunate, but if there were small kids around they pretty much had to.

I don't know if they killed the other huge rattlesnakes that they found. They COULD have called in a professional handler, and it could have been taken somewhere safe.

Life expectancy is more than twenty years, but is typically shorter because of hunting and human expansion.

en.wikipedia.org...

Very sad.

reply to post by gemineye
What'd you expect from this Homeland security guy in the pic?

reply to post by star in a jar


Usually Animal Control and the Police are the same thing in rural areas. We've had some rabid animals around here before, and twice the Police came and shot it.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


Yeah, I have to admit that if my kids were involved, I would choose their safety over the snake.

It's just sad is all.

reply to post by star in a jar


Yeah, no kidding, star in a jar! That's probably the proudest moment of his life, right there.

Awwwww, gotta say it...."Everythings bigger in Texas!" Ha!

reply to post by sharintexas


lol!!!

Apparently that is a true statement!
Have you ever seen a snake like that down there??

[edit on 8/1/2009 by ravenshadow13]

WOW! Pretty amazing sight, that picture. I'd guess a diamondback, not sure which kind. Incredible length..... bigger than anything I've ever seen.

As a kid growing up in Idaho, we had rattlers around all the time. When the chose to nest around the homes (our nearest neighbor was 1.5 miles away), they had to be killed. It's unfortunate, but we depended upon children as labor on the farms/ranches, and dogs & cats had jobs as well.

I remember they'd sometimes nest in the haybarns, and one early morning going to the barn door, I just had a strange feeling, and didn't open the door, but went around to the back entrance. In front of the main door was a timber rattler coiled up and rattling. I like to think that my vestigal instincts kicked in and somehow sensed what I couldn't consciously sense.

I ran back to the house and woke up my Dad, who went out into the snow with slippers and underwear, carrying a .44 magnum S&W. He threw open the door and nailed the snake. He cut off the head and then used a stick to show my why they were still dangerous even when dead -- the dead snake's reflex struck the stick and venom flowed.

My Dad told me to stay away from the barn, as he was pretty certain it's mate would come out as well, and it did about 15 minutes later. The second snake had a cottontail inside it, about half-decomposed.

I've eaten rattler. I didn't think it tasted anything like chicken, as is often said, but it wasn't unpleasant either. I'd compare it to the gaminess of Mourning Dove, which I used to really like.

I always feel sad somewhat when I wild creature has to be killed because it is a threat to humans. In this instance, I think it was proper, unlike the gassing of the Labrador geese in NYC.

Edit to add: I still have a small leather bag of rattlesnake rattles somewhere. As a child, I was told that they generally add a section to the rattles every year when they molt. I don't know if that's true, but if so, the big ol' boy in that photo looks to be at least 15.



[edit on 1/8/09 by argentus]

reply to post by argentus


It's got to be a Western Diamondback. Eastern Diamondbacks really aren't found in Texas.

Oh my goodness, your post is so interesting!

I've never eaten dove... I think my boyfriend has eaten rattlesnake before, though.

Rattlesnakes can be dangerous, and depending on the nearest hospital to the area where this one was shot, it may have been a good idea.

I supported the geese gassing, but not for the reasons that they did it. (And I got some nasty comments about it here on ATS, too.) They are becoming invasive in some localized areas (a town nearby has a huge problem with them) because of the large cities being built. No, I don't think they should be gassing the geese so planes can take off. But I've seen other bird populations in decline because of some geese populations expanse.

Here you go:

Contrary to popular opinion, you can't tell the age of a rattlesnake by the number of rattle segments. A new rattle segment is added to the tail area with each shedding of the skin, and this can happen up to four times a year. The shedding frequency depends on how much the snake is eating and growing. Moreover, the rattles can be damaged, and segments are often broken off.

www.worsleyschool.net...

Originally posted by argentus
Edit to add: I still have a small leather bag of rattlesnake rattles somewhere. As a child, I was told that they generally add a section to the rattles every year when they molt. I don't know if that's true, but if so, the big ol' boy in that photo looks to be at least 15.
[edit on 1/8/09 by argentus]

They shed their skin when they grow but it's not a once a year thing. They do add one segment to their rattle on each shedding, assuming the rattle doesn't break in the process. In the wild they rarely get long rattles but in captivity they sometimes get giant ones. About 20 years ago I was fortunate enough to watch a rattlesnake shed in captivity that set the world record for the longest rattle. Her owner was a herpatologist(repitle specialist). I don't remember exactly but I think her rattle had 20 or 21 segments.

Also, they should have caught that snake in the OP. It's not that hard to do it safely.

Vas

reply to post by Vasilis Azoth


Yeah, I added that bit to the message too. They can shed up to four times a year, so it's really hard to tell. Plus segments can break off, too.

I think they should have captured it and moved it to a remote area, but they should have called in a specialist. I think handlers are hard to come by in that area, possibly, and if it was near children I can see why they didn't wait.

Herpetology is interesting but I would only study marine herpetology, I think.

[edit on 8/1/2009 by ravenshadow13]

Hi Raven
I thought you might find this story ineteresting too.

www.dailymail.co.uk... =1490

reply to post by Sundancer


WOAH!

The pythons with the sheep and the gator are intense.

I'm aware of the growing issue of pythons becoming invasive in the Everglades. It's just another reason why I support strict government control over the sale and ownership of exotic pets.

Looking at the size of this rattler, I was curious about the longest snake in the US. Apparently, it's the Indigo snake, record length was 8 and a half feet. Well, that makes you wonder about the biggest EVER known snake...Titanic Boa. Their remains have been discovered in Colombia...

We estimate a body length of 13m and a mass of 1,135 kg, making it the largest known snake

Source

Over a ton and up to 49 feet long. Anacondas are famously huge and dwarfed by these critters. This image shows an anaconda vertebrae next to a titanic boa vertebrae:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/54bd2ee5b189.jpg[/atsimg]

This image is a recreation of the proportions of the second largest snake.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/88ee2d1f7fc7.jpg[/atsimg]

The girl in the picture would be a bag of doritos...snack value