Huge Rattlesnake Shot In Manor, Texas (With Pictures)

reply to post by Kandinsky


Woah!!!!!!

I've never heard of those Titanic Boas before. Those are AWESOME!!!

...I wonder what they... ate.

news.mongabay.com...

Earlier this month researchers announced the discovery of a 45-foot-long prehistoric snake from Colombia. The species, named Titanoboa cerrejonensis ("titanic boa"), lived more than 50 million years ago on a diet of crocodiles and giant turtles.

Ignore the picture in that link though, we don't need another thread about it.

I'm wondering if global warming will affect the size of reptiles by much, as the size a reptile grows is usually dependant on the temperature of the environment.

that snake had to be hand raised..i bet someone lost their house and released their pet rattler!!!it was probably raised on large rats;baby pigs,rabbits,and stray cats!!!

[edit on 1-8-2009 by blkraven7]

reply to post by blkraven7


There are tons of large rabbits that are wild in that area. =)

Zoo- I think it would be a few hundred years or more before we see any compelling evidence towards that.

reply to post by ravenshadow13
Hi Ravenshadow

I recently moved into the neighborhood where that snake was killed. My son who also has a home here found a 3 foot rattler in his yard.

Manor is a few miles outside of Austin, 15 minute drive. This neighborhood is mostly surrounded by drought ridden farms and pasture land filled with mesquite trees. There is a golf course next to the neighborhood and all the houses have St. Augustine grass. One of the homeowners associations rules is that no matter how bad a drought is we HAVE to keep our yard green and the landscaping near perfect or else. (I did not realize this when we purchased our home here, I'm more into native grasses and landscaping.)

So therefore according to the wildlife expert I contacted it makes this neighborhood an oasis for struggling wildlife, many of which are the food source for rattlesnakes. His charge for checking my yard and spraying the fence with a repellant starts at $350 up to $600. I passed on hiring him, put my boots on, got the hoe out (I was out of shotgun shells) and checked my yard myself (no snakes were found, therefore none were killed that day).

Also, when I took my dog into the local vet a few weeks ago they did mention that they had plenty of anti-venom in stock, just wanted to let me know. Said that there had been several cats and dogs bitten recently.

I hope this drought and heatwave ends soon it's changing our whole environment here.

[edit on 8/1/2009 by seentoomuch]

reply to post by seentoomuch


Oh wow, it's awesome that you live right near there! I'm glad your son was okay after seeing that snake, they can be very dangerous. And you too, after venturing out for yardwork.

I hope the drought ends, too.

When my dad was working in Texas (way out in the desert) they saw a few snakes, but nothing more than a couple of feet. Usually much smaller, not diamondbacks.

There is more anti-venom for dogs and cats it seems. Last I heard there was a very limited supply in the USA for humans. They even have a dog vaccine for rattle snake bites.

Why the hell don't they come up with some sort of anti-venom for people? Something like an Epi pen for bee stings. I don't understand our country sometimes. I know rattlesnake bites don't kill very many people but you'd think there would be something you could carry with you that would negate the effects of a poisonous snake bite. After all we have an antidote for nerve gas (atropine) but nothing for poisonous snake bites? I've done a lot of research on Native Americans and natural/plant remedies but haven't come up with much. Just a lot of old wive's tales.

reply to post by Zosynspiracy


There are anti-venoms for humans =)

wiki.answers.com...

www.snakebitenews.com...
Antivenin Crotalidae Polyvalent (Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Inc.) was the first modern snakebite treatment. It was manufactured from horse serum and contained protective substances capable of neutralizing the toxic effects of venoms of crotalids (pit vipers) including rattlesnakes, copperhead and cottonmouth moccasins. It was available beginning in the early 1950s. Wyeth has since discontinued production of this antivenom.
In October 2000, the first new snakebite treatment in 50 years was approved. CroFab® Crotalidae Polyvalent Immune Fab (Ovine) is indicated for the management of patients with minimal or moderate North American crotalid envenomation. The term crotalid is used to describe the Crotalinae subfamily (formerly known as Crotalidae) of venomous snakes, which includes rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths/water moccasins. Early use of CroFab® (within 6 hours of snakebite) is advised to prevent clinical deterioration and the occurrence of systemic coagulation abnormalities.

That was from a quick Google search, I know there are many other varieties.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


you don't eat rattlesnake unless it has been prepared properly.

While Texans may eat rattlesnake, it is more of an oddity than a staple. I have had it 2 times in my life (and i live an hour away from the worlds largest rattlesnake round up).

That is a big rattler. He doesn't have too many rattles....he is big for his age.

We have had 2 or 3 at my moms, and 1 here at my house. If you are good with a shovel you can behead it from a safe distance by throwing it. My dad was real good at it.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


That's awesome.

If you don't mind my asking... what is a "Rattlesnake Roundup?"

(< Yankee)

[edit on 8/1/2009 by ravenshadow13]

No wonder why snake tastes just like rabbit....... I always wondered.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


the local ranchers find the snakes to be a menace to the herds, as do all other denizens of the region. So the event organizers pay you a per pound price to bring in rattlesnakes. People who like to live dangerously go out and start catching them to bring in.


Once brought in they are milked for the venom and killed. The meat is sold after being coated in corn meal and fried. The skins are made into various leatherwork, the heads are encased in acrylic and sold as souveniers, along with the rattles.

It is like a fair, but rattlesnakes are the main event. They even put on shows with snake handlers, and have big huge open areas with the snakes crawling around that you can watch (from behind a 4 foot wall).

Edit to add: here is the link to the Sweetwater Jaycee's page on the roundups:

www.rattlesnakeroundup.net...

[edit on 1-8-2009 by bigfatfurrytexan]

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


It actually sounds like a good idea. At least all the parts of the animal are used.

You're taking me to the next one, right?

I'd actually love to attend. At least they're not like... throwing the snakes onto targets or something. I had weird images in my head.

The 3' and 4' rattlers mentioned earlier sound rather small, in my experience. I was born and raised in East Texas, on a ranch, and it wasn't uncommon at all to encounter 6' and 7' rattlesnakes on a regular basis.

We often ran into the so-called Canebreak Rattler (Timber Rattler) during its mating season, and that is something that will scare the living hell out of you...

During the mating season, Canebreaks become very territorial and will chase much larger animals, including humans and horses. This wouldn't be so bad, I guess, because you can outrun them, but a pursuing Canebreak Rattler will raise up until it's supporting maybe 3/4 of its body in the air, as it is chasing you.

We've seen big Canebreaks raise up to 5' off the ground, meaning there's still about 2 feet of it on the ground. What's worse is when there are 2 or 3 Canebreaks moving in on you in the raised posture — creepiest thing you've ever seen, enough to give you nightmares.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

It actually sounds like a good idea. At least all the parts of the animal are used.

You're taking me to the next one, right?

I'd actually love to attend. At least they're not like... throwing the snakes onto targets or something. I had weird images in my head.

I had an image in my head of 'whacking day' off the Simpsons.

Oooh Whacking day, Oooooh Whacking day... that hallowed snakeskull-cracking day!

Awesome find though about the OP rattler.
One of the better Monsterquest episodes recently dealt with giant snakes entering urban areas, coming out of the everglades. There is plenty of evidence they are getting bigger and more game.

reply to post by Doc Velocity


en.wikipedia.org...

These guys?

Oh man, apparently they have those around here...

Given the fact that if it can raise up to 5', and I am 5'0", those are really quite terrifying.

I could have taken it to prom, though.

reply to post by fooffstarr


I don't even want to talk about the pythons in the Everglades. It's because stupid people buy exotic pets which SOMEHOW get out into the wild and reproduce like bunnies.

I didn't see that MonsterQuest though, I'll keep my eyes out for it.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

It actually sounds like a good idea. At least all the parts of the animal are used.

You're taking me to the next one, right?

I'd actually love to attend. At least they're not like... throwing the snakes onto targets or something. I had weird images in my head.

We have one here in Big Spring, too. Just not as big as Sweetwaters. But we kick their butts in football (sometimes). LOL

A few more pics I found on net. I live in East Texas and yes they are big.

www.jonbryan.com...


jdlong.wordpress.com...

I'm quite surprised no one has mentioned the camera trick for fish and snakes in which people use sticks pointed to the camera to seemingly distort its depth perception and make the animal look up to 3x its actual size. Cameras have a fish-eye quality to them no matter what lens, so it screamed trickery as soon as I saw it.

Now I'm not saying its not a huge snake, I just wanted to offer up that piece of information. In my opinion, this animal could be around 4' and with the stick pointed at the camera, could look much larger. Hope I can find some pictures to demonstrate my point.