epiphany

Everyone here in West Virginia has been talking about this rattle snake, so here is the story behind it.

This rattle snake was found in a piece of equipment shipped by Walker/Cat Equipments from Texas to a coal mine in Beckley, West Virginia.

This rattler weight 87 pounds, and is over 7 feet long. Another rattler bigger than this one was also found in the equipment but it got away before anyone could catch it.

http://www.huntingtalk.com/hunting-g...snake_1_2_.JPG

deadserious

How would you like to walk up on a rattle snake that big while hiking or something? That's a big sucker. I wonder if it is from Texas or West Virginia? Do you think it was shipped with the euqipment or just found with it?

epiphany

It had snuck inside of the equipment before it was shipped from Texas, at least thats what I was told by the guy who sent me the picture.

If I were to walk up on a snake that big, I would probably fall over dead of a heart attack, I hate snakes.

Creek Walker

Okay, don't hate the messenger! But the story is a hoax.

There's a long history behind it. It actually started in Scott County, Tennessee (my home county) and was reportedly found under a house here by some employees of the local utility district. We did a story in our newspaper in which we interviewed a number of people rumored to have been involved in the capture of the snake and proved it to be a hoax.

That was in early April. I got an email from an environmental consultant in West Virginia about three weeks later stating that the state had been discovered there. It was actually originally reported to have been found in a Clay County, WV, coal mine. I did some calling around up there and the folks at the coal mine, plus at a local equipment supply company said to have been involved with the capture, both vehemently denied the story and said none of their employees had anything to do with it.

The New York Times actually ran a story about it here about three weeks ago pointing it out as a hoax.

Plus, you gotta factor in that that snake is a western diamondback, and they just aren't found in West Va. or anywhere east of the Mississippi River. Plus, snakes simply don't grow to 70 pounds. The largest western diamondback on record is eight feet, and that snake only weighed around 15 pounds or so.

Nevertheless, that is a real photo (using the age-old photo trick of holding the animal close to the camera to make it appear much larger than it is), and that's a very big snake. I sure wouldn't want to walk across it in the woods! (We used several tests to check the validity of the photo and they proved that either the picture is real or it is a very, very good fake, even in the age of Photoshop).

__________________
You must be the change you wish to see in the world -- Ghandi

epiphany

lol gotta love rumors huh?

This story has been the talk of the state for over a month now and it's all you hear anyone talking about. Now when I hear someone talking about it I can tell them it's a fake.

Anyway the questions I had when I heard this story was: "Why would anyone in their right mind turn a snake that big loose instead of putting in some animal exhibit?" And "Would a western diamond back mate with a eastern diamond back?"

Thanks for pointing out that it was a hoax though.

deadserious

LOL, that's funny. I had my suspicions of it being a hoax, but didn't do much more research than just having the suspicions. And yea I didn't really think much of the 70 pound claim. That size of snake could easily eat a few small humans. If I seen a snake that big somewhere I think I'd move away.

Well I haven't done any research on this one either, but I suppose it's real since it made into Field & Stream? 1,000-pound 12 foot HOG - Hogzilla proven true

Creek Walker

The hogzilla story is a wierd one! I didn't get a chance to see the National Geographic documentary on the pig, so I don't know all the details, but a buddy of mine who owns a hog hunting reserve says "no way" will a feral hog reach 1,000 pounds in the wild. I personally have no idea, but wild or not wild, that's a LOT of pork! I'd like to see a 1,000 pound hog . . . preferably from the other side of the fence.

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You must be the change you wish to see in the world -- Ghandi

porkchop

yep ...thats a big snake..ive got one on my wall thats 6ft 2inches long. it bit me in the leg while hog hunting one july evening about 3 years ago. my brother and i was hunting in ft. stewart georgia.we wasnt having any luck and decided to head on home through some pines.as we were walking i found a turkey feather on the ground and bent down to pick it up.it was less than 6 inches from the snake and i didnt even see it.it struck at my hand but missed.then before i could move it struck me in the leg. i was wearing a pair of irish setter 17 inch snake boots. the snake struck about 5 inches up the boot and got his fangs stuck in the laces.it stayed stuck for what felt like an eternity.finally my brother smacked it with a machete and it fell to the ground where it was quickly disposed of.