In our myths & legends section Don Zaidle debunks the myth of a 15-foot eastern diamondback that has been circulating in email boxes for awhile.
Well, here’s a real giant rattler, a western diamondback I shot two years ago with my trusty Glock while blood trailing a doe my Dad shot. It was at night in the thick, South Texas brush. Snake is over seven feet long (I’m six feet tall so you get an idea) and was so big around in the middle I could barely get both hands around it. Doesn’t look that thick here but it was.
The hide is tanned out and displayed in my office. I’m not scared of snakes but when you are on your hands and knees at night looking for tiny drops of blood and here “Snake!” it gets your attention.
Then when you walk over and the snake is this big it makes you think how crazy you were for being on your hands and knees in South Texas.