A Snoped Rattlesnake

UPDATE! There's a report (re) circulating in Facebook (as of Dec 2011) about a 15 ft rattlesnake captured in Florida.  Again, another example of an exaggeration running amok.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/15ftrattler.asp

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For confirmation go here!

Today, I received an email about a supposedly 9 ft long rattlesnake that was captured in North Carolina saying it weighed 97lbs. This is the stuff of legends and the stuff of hoaxes, too. Even Snopes received that same picture and made some comments about it and how the snake closer to the camera looks bigger than the man holding it.

According to Rattlesnakes! one type of rattlesnake called the Eastern Diamondback can weigh as much as 15 pounds and 8 feet long.

The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake; the most dangerous North American snake. Specimens have been captured as a large as 8-foot long and weighing 15 pounds. The snake's 3/4" fangs are capable of penetrating almost any boot. Fortunately this snake is relatively docile

Now, if the man in the picture seen below holding the snake up with his snake grabber would have undoubtedly a hard time trying to hold up a snake if it weighed 97lbs using the grabber alone while his picture was being taken. Have you ever lifted 97lbs? Have you ever lifted 97lbs using a grabber at one end? Have you ever lifted a club that weighed 97lbs like you would with a fishing pole? Unless you're a strongman you could probably do this. This guy here is no strongman and that snake does not weigh 97lbs.

Click to enlarge

I took the liberty of using the picture and zoomed to the end of the snake grabber. I assumed a width of 1.25 inches for the grabber part. I added hatch marks equidistant of each other based on the width's of the snake grabber's end. I ended up with a calculated length of 6 feet and 9 inches. Click on the picture to see the red hatch marks.

The snake is real. The length of 9 feet is not. It is without a doubt a rattlesnake between 6 and 7 feet long.

Here's a picture of a rattlesnake captured and reported by the Clay county free press. Here's another one, a captured 6 foot Eastern Diamondback. And here's the world's largest rattlesnake!

Want a BBQ recipe for a cooked rattlesnake?

Just watch where step out there.