Rattlesnake Found In St Augustine
Yesterday while I was in St Augustine they found a 15 foot diamondback rattlesnake at the outlet mall. Finding a 15 foot rattlesnake is more than a frightening experience for somebody to blog about, it is a scientific discovery. Of the three rattlesnake varieties the eastern diamondback rattlesnake is the largest. The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is less commonly know as crotalus adamanteus and is a venomous pitviper species found in the southeastern United States. It is the heaviest venomous snake in the Americas and the largest rattlesnake. The average size of an eastern diamondback is 5.6 feet, and up until yesterday it was generally accepted that longest they could grow was approximately 8 feet long. Black mambas maxing out at 14 feet long were thought to be the longest venomous snake in existence. This 15 foot beast of a snake suggests otherwise.
The venom from an eastern diamondback has a mortality rate of around 30 percent, but that does not take into account the amount of venom. There is no way of telling without collecting a sample how much venom this snake could have delivered, and what sort of damage it could do. The fangs on this snake are larger than the fangs I have seen on any other. The most likely reason for this rattler to be at the outlet mall was that it was searching for larger prey. Average diamondbacks are known to prey on birds, rodents, and even rabbits. They strike their prey and follow the scent of the dying animal waiting until they have stopped struggling to eat. This particular diamondback looks large enough to eat cats and maybe even a dog or two.
Naturally people came to look and take pictures of the behemoth of a snake. The sheriff department and animal control took the situation very seriously, and took every safety precaution possible. As for what is going to happen to the snake now I am not sure. I do know that it will be studied for a time, but that it will most likely not be able to be kept in captivity. Rattlesnake that grew up in the wild do not lend themselves well to captivity. Still due to the nature of the beast and it being unique in its size it may end up in the Jacksonville or some other zoo.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by landisrocks: RT @salamndstron 15 foot eastern diamondback rattlesnake was found in St Augustine yesterday. http://tinyurl.com/15ftsnake...
AWESOME REPTILE!! Man, that is the coolest thing I’ve seen this month, by far.
Thanks for posting that!
[...] vbmenu_register(“postmenu_403727″, true); 11-14-2009, 01:32 AM Rating: (0 votes – average) Rattlesnake Found In St Augustine | Life And Whines of David Appelman I guess it is possible for a rattlesnake to get that big maybe that picture of the old guy with [...]
FAKE!
I don’t believe for a minute a rattlesnake could grow to be 15 feet long. It would have been an aberation if it did. I think it was either some other species or a photoshopped picture.
The snake was 7’3″ and it is(was) real.
most of you most not be from fl. at least in ocala national forest has a ton of easterns i’ve a few @ least 10-12′ thats no crap i own a 6.3′ redtail boa so i’m a good judge of size when it comes to snakes
I own three snakes, most people don’t know that they have indiscriminate grown. Meaning that if they have enough food, they will continue to grow.
I too live in Florida and have seen basking on fallen trees along the Silver River huge and I mean huge Cotton Mouths that were as big around as a muscle man’s biceps and much longer than 6 feet. So yes, snakes can get much bigger than those we normally see in captivity or even in their natural habitat. I mean, lordy those Cotton Mouths were HUGE!!! and that size seemed to be the average as we saw several. Who knows what the rattlesnakes in the area looked like. A very remote forest of old growth and no contamination from civilization encouragement. Karen
it’s not only fake BUT the person that runs this blog quite clearly did it for the hits, I so do hope that the traffic it get kills his server that way he might learn that whilst posting a traffic grabber has it’s uses you also need support for that kind of action.
Oh we own lots of snakes BUT that has nothing to do with the fact that this is a fake, the person closest to the camera is MUCH closer than you think and the person furthest away is also closer.
Perspective is a great tool with a half decent camera and finally take a look at Urban Myths dot com before you go for jit count heaven.
Looks like a small knife in his mouth, meaning awfully small head for a 15 foot rattlesnake. If it is a 5 or 6 inch blade it is understandable and believe able.
iTS REAL YOUR GONNA SEE THIS ONE IN THE JAX ZOO REAL SOON
i highly doubt that this rattlesnake is 15 feet long, maybe 8-12ft at the longest. oh, and the largest venomous snake is the king cobra….way bigger than the black mamba. also there are a lot more than just tree types of rattlesnakes. just thought i would inform you of your sketchy facts.
Well….here’s my two cents: First off, I doubt we’ll bee seeing this snake in any zoo…..my bet is that the snake in the pic is dead. C. adamanteus (as well as many other heavy-bodied snakes) have to be pinned carefully so that they don’t thrash their heavy bodies around and break their own neck/spine. The snake in the pic is dangling straight down while being held by the throat.
)
My first take was that it was speared through the neck…and now they’re saying it’s alive and zoo-bound…hmmm…
I can’t be sure, of course, but that looks like a Leatherman tool (2.5″blade) displaying the fangs, (cutting edge facing the roof of the snake’s mouth…not what you do with a live snake that you want to stay alive
I love the idea…but I’m not buyin’ it.
idiot they said it was dead duh. Can you not read dummy.
The photos are real. The length of the snake is a hoax. It’s actually 7’3″ long. Here’s a website with news coverage on video that verifies it if anyone is interested. http://www.news4jax.com/video/21164498/index.html 3 words to the wise: GOOGLE, GOOGLE, GOOGLE
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/flagler_news/100109_huge_rattlesnake
try again on the size.
I don’t care either way if it’s 15 feet or 7 feet. As long as it never crosses my path then I’m cool with it taking a trip to the moon!
I’ve got the snake here in south carolina its 11’9″. it has shrank 1 foot since i brought it here.