Biggest snake you've ever seen (in the wild)

[Texas Star]

I just remembered that about a year after we moved to Dallas, I looked out a screened window and saw what was probably a black racer or indigo snake at least six feet long. I knew the venomous snakes by then and wasn't too disturbed, but didn't run out and try to catch it, either. I was 12. The window was partially covered with ivy and the snake was moving through that.

About a year ago, my DIL called my son to see a large rattler, maybe 5.5 feet, that was sunning atop some expensive soil that'd been delivered for her flower bed. My son was wearing a H-K 9mm, I think a M-30. I have a photo of that gun, but am not really up on the Heckler und Koch line. He was loaded with Federal's 124 grain HST JHP's. I have a pic of the snake and one shot midway along it before he hit the head blew out a considerable chunk of snake. The next shot hit the head of the writhing snake and that was that.

They live in a rural area and see a number of snakes. One part of their property seems attractive to copperheads so they're especially cautious there. They had a son last year and he'll grow up learning about snakes and other wildlife. But I doubt he'll be able to get out on his own much, as they have not only snakes but coyotes and saw a cougar twice. And there are javelina and true feral pigs nearby.

I bet that boy will have his own gun by the time I did. Barring a .410 at age six, my first was a Webley revolver at 13. At 16, I had a Colt M-1917 .45. But I didn't live where I could shoot any snakes...

I doubt that my grandson will shoot them routinely when he can, and my son doesn't, unless they're near the house. He's well aware of the role they play in controlling vermin.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

My FIL was drinking one day with a guy who had worked with Bring Them Back Alive Frank Buck.
The Frank Buck guy says he heard that in a nearby village a Python had eaten a small boy who had sleeping fever.
Oh - forgot to tell you this was in West Africa.
So they get a car and call on a non-drinking MSGT to drive.
And away they go!
They find the village and locate the snake.
He seems to be in a non-active 'digestive' mode and don't want to be disturbed.
And he was spitting up bones.
My FIL who was a MD identified the bones as human.
The sober MSGT got upset with The Whole situation,
Pulled out his 1911 and blasted the snake!
I'm not sure if there's a lesson here or not.
Just another really big snake story!

 

[Texas Star]

The reference above to a black mamba reminded me of a presumably true story that dates from when the Boers/Afrikaaners were trekking north in covered wagons much like that used by US setters moving west. A mamba got upset and raced along one side of the oxen pulling a wagon and bit all of the oxen on that side of the span. Don't know how many, but at least 3-4. They all died.

Many in Africa are afraid that if you see one mamba near camp, even if you kill it, another will follow.

I think that in mating season, one just follows the scent trail of the first.

Besides the black mamba, there are two forms of Green Mamba, east and west, and the intermediate Jameson's. I've seen all in zoos and they're invariably alert and look intelligent for snakes.

C.J. P. Ionides, a famed snake trapper, said a Green Mamba got loose in a post office and shot up to the ceiling and roamed around the top of the room, terrifying all present. The shipping box it was in got opened accidentally.

 

[CajunBass]

When I was a kid (late 50's early 60's), I saw a black snake that was stretched across my grandparent single lane dirt driveway. It's head was in the grass on one side, it's tail was in the grass on the other. At the time it was about 25 feet long. Over the years it's shrunk to 5...maybe 6 feet.

I had a Redtail Boa as a pet for a few years. Stopped at the pet store to pick up a rat to feed...him I guess. I saw what I thought was a fire hose stretched across the parking lot. A closer look revealed it to be some kind of a big snake. I asked the guy in the store and he said it was 14 feet. True or not, I got not idea, but it was BIG.

 

[les.b]

Well, I guess it's not "wild", but when I was still working on the police department, we fielded a call that an older lady was out picking flowers in her garden, and when she parted the plants, there was a huge snake there...she was screaming at the dispatcher that someone needed to do something. Not really a police matter, but I was intrigued and my partner and I volunteered to check it out.

Sure enough, when we got there, here was this huge (to me, anyway) Python or boa or whatever, (I'm no authority on snakes), basking in the sun. It was obviously someone's pet, and was completely relaxed, and non threatening. Had to be 5 or 6 inches in diameter, and 7 or 8 feet long. We picked him (or her, I sure don't know the difference) up, and got it in the cruiser. Well, this was too good an opportunity to miss, so we rode around with it for awhile, and had someone take our picture with it (which I still have somewhere).

Finally took it to a a local pet store, and walk in with it, the clerk says "Oh, that's Reggie!!"... Turns out that Reggie was well known, and the store folks gave us the owners address, and we took him home. Happy ending for everyone. My only encounter with a big snake.

But yesterday, I saw about a four or five foot "blacksnake" right here on my cabin porch. They keep the mouse population down (I have an indoor cat here who is supposed to take care of the indoor mice), and the blacksnakes are good neighbors, and never hurt anything.

Best Regards, Les

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

In June I observed a copperhead try to strike a house cat. The cat would jump out of the way, what reflexes. Copperheads around here are a 2-2 1/2 feet long. Rattle snakes about 2-6 feet. A black snake about 7 feet long lived in my mule barn for several years, she finally disappeared. As a rule, I don't kill any snakes unless a venomous one is up by the house.

 

[BearBio]

1. A glossy snake (Arizona elegans)) about 5.5 feet (5'6") long=dead on road. I later read the record for the species was 5'7".

2. Driving into our camp on a friends ranch and saw a gopher snake crossing the dirt road. I laid down next to it and it was slightly longer than I was (I'm 6').

Largest I've handled was a 16' "retic" python, when I was in college and managed pet stores.

 

[SteveA]

Biggest around here are the black snakes. 6 footers aren't uncommon. Had one living in my tackroom for a couple of years. He(she?) was great to have around to keep the mouse population down but I never got used to grabbing a saddle off a rack to find him (here?) coiled on it. The funniest was right after we moved into our current house, an old ranch house a bit over 100 years old. My wife hung some laundry to dry in the basement. We had some of those sticky mouse traps down there, and the lighting wasn't great. Heard a scream that would have scared a sasquatch! Ran down to find she'd stepped on a Massauga rattler (little rattler about one foot long) that had gotten stuck on the sticky trap. Luckily she stepped on the tail end. Poor little snake, I had to kill him and she quit hanging laundry down there.

 

[AJ]

About 50+ years ago I was with my Uncle and we ran across a Diamondback that was over 8 feet long. This area of Florida was a lot less lived in then. Have never seen another that size.

 

[Collo Rosso]

Is it fair to judge a snakes size by hitting him with one or both front tires?

 

[LVSteve]

When I was a kid (late 50's early 60's), I saw a black snake that was stretched across my grandparent single lane dirt driveway. It's head was in the grass on one side, it's tail was in the grass on the other. At the time it was about 25 feet long. Over the years it's shrunk to 5...maybe 6 feet.
\

I saw its cousin on a single track road near Benbrook Lake near Ft Worth in the mid 60s. The track was narrow as the grass was nearly wiping both sides of our Valiant, but the snake stretched right across, so he was still a good size. I'd forgotten about him until your post reminded me.

 

[Tyrod]

I once saw one of them there Articulated Pythons at the St. Louis zoo. There was two shows a day where he'd sing "Baby Come Back"

 

[A10]

1. A glossy snake (Arizona elegans)) about 5.5 feet (5'6") long=dead on road. I later read the record for the species was 5'7".

2. Driving into our camp on a friends ranch and saw a gopher snake crossing the dirt road. I laid down next to it and it was slightly longer than I was (I'm 6').

Largest I've handled was a 16' "retic" python, when I was in college and managed pet stores.

Ever run into any rattler in the woods around your place? I hiked and hunted the area a lot and never saw one. Closest encounters were bird hunting in the basin, I'd see one on the road once in a while. Heard a few too, that'll get your heart started!

 

[Dachief]

Rattler, southern style

 

[scooterfiend]

best fed

I'm sure I've seen longer blow snakes around.
I think these snakes are the Great Basin rattlesnake.
While out w/ a friend 4 wheeling, we went through an area that was crawling w/ these things. I'd guess we put eyes on 12 to 14 of them. Most were not real long for this species but seemed like most of them were close to 30 inches. They'd all been eating well and looked really heavy.
By the time we got to where we weren't seeing any more of them I was so snakey I had a hard time getting off my machine.
The 3rd pic is of Moe trying to get out of the area.

 

[chopshopcop]

One of my duties as an auto theft detective was identifying stolen vehicles found in chop shops. We hit a location once and seized a couple of vehicles, some were determined right away to be stolen. The one the suspect was using was suspected but unconfirmed, so we impounded it for inspection.

Worked till late in the evening but couldn't locate the identifying numbers, so we called it a day. Next morning, still had it up on the rack, started checking the engine and transmission numbers. Reached up to the transmission to clean some grease off and a snake fell right down into the crook of my arm.

Now in all honesty, it was a garter snake, maybe 6-8 inches long...but dropping down like that and basically landing at eye level, he looked like a freakin anaconda. I screamed like a little girl and flung my arm out but my hand hit the tie rod, causing a nasty cut. By reflex naturally I jerked my arm back, trapping the snake. When I realized it was still there, I turned to run out from under the car, and ran face first into the tie rod on the other side, also causing a nasty cut in the middle of my forehead.

So now I've got blood streaming from my head, blood in my eyes, can't see, bleeding from my hand and I've still got the damn snake clenched in my arm. I'm still screaming SNAKE! along with various four letter words, my partner is literally lying in floor crying because he's laughing so hard, never once did he try to help me. Still haven't forgiven that son-of-a-gun either.

I finally had the presence of mind to relax my arm, the snake fell to the floor and went under the work bench. Far as I know, it's still there to this day. That was the biggest damn snake I've ever seen

 

[model70hunter]

I've seen multiple 6 plus foot black snakes. My brother shot a measured 7 footer a couple of weeks ago. It was eating baby chicks. A judge pistol and a 2.5 inch buckshot round took it out of the chicken. Business.

Saw 1 6 foot timber rattler hauled in from the wild in my teens. Saw a 4 foot timber rattler a month ago.


Deja vue for snakes. I've killed 4 foot or close to it cotton mouth snakes with 38 special reverse loaded wad cutters using my python.

There are snake stories aplenty here. I'm getting Eves opinion.

 

[Frank46]

Since I'm originally from long Island NY and living here in Louisiana and with bayou Tech at the back of my property I see snakes fairly often. Mostly cotton mouths or water moccasins. About 10 years back my BIL and another relative decide to take me fishing at Lake Dautrieve . Small boat and three guys was streching things. Glide into a small canal and the boat in front of us is just sitting there. Big snake up in the tree branches. We back out and try another canal. Spot what looked like an old tire sitting up on the bank. BIL fills a soda can with swamp water (what else) and lobs it at the so called tire. Bam good hit but nothing happens. Can #2 had instaneous results. The so called old tire turned out to be the biggest blackest snake I ever saw. Slid off the bank into the water and the tail was still up on the bank. I estimated at least 6'-7' long and had to be about at least 6-8" in diameter. That boat we were in just got way smaller. Never saw a snake that long nor that fat in my life. Couldn't wait till we got back to the dock. I climbed up the sidewall when all I really had to do was stay in the darn boat and ride out when he got it hooked up in the trailer and hitched to the truck. And those little holes in the ground you see down here that are usually have mud piled up around them? Snake holes. Watched a fair sized cotton mouth come out of one once. When I see them while bushogging the grass they get extra special treatment. Run them over or pack them down good with the front end loader. Frank

 

[Tyrod]

I once saw one of them there Articulated Pythons at the St. Louis zoo. There was two shows a day where he'd sing "Baby Come Back"

Bad karma. Since I wrote this post yesterday, I've had that song stuck in my head.

 

[CajunBass]

I forgot to mention numbers of snakes. We were coming back from Buggs Island Lake one Sunday afternoon after a weekend bass tournament, and for miles there were dozens?...hundreds maybe of black snakes along the sides of I-85. They were intertwined and rolling so I assume it was mating season. The only time I've ever seen that.

Fishing a creek off the Rappahannock River during a bass tournament and there were so many water snakes that they were never out of sight. Two here, three over there, four behind us. Swimming this way and that.

My partner was afraid of snakes. He was about to have a dying duck fit to get out of that creek. I told him, "They're not scaring me one bit. They're just snakes." To which he almost screamed..."I KNOW!"

Oh well. We left. We weren't catching any fish in there anyway, and all that screaming was annoying.

I've never understood how someone who was so afraid of snakes, ended up with bass fishing as a hobby.