Can Dead Snakes Still Move?

[Pasifikawv]

Originally posted by fat tom:

Originally posted by Texas Star:
pps-

Reliable reports say that the largest is the Eastern Diamondback, which MAY reach 11 feet.

The largest I know of was killed in North Georgia a number of years ago by a fellow helping to recover a large shipment of marijuana which had been dumped from an airplane by smugglers. How big was he? 10 1/2 feet,49 pounds!
f.t.

YIKES!! I thought the 6' rattler I killed a few years ago was pretty darn big. I cannot even imagine a 10'+ and 50lbs rattler....

 

[jkc]

YIKES!! I thought the 6' rattler I killed a few years ago was pretty darn big. I cannot even imagine a 10'+ and 50lbs rattler....

Well, perhaps you can imagine it, but that's as close to reality as you'll get. Let's put these absurd anecdotes to rest. The following quotes are from Laurence M. Klauber's Rattlesnakes, the definitive reference work ---

"The eastern diamondback (Crotalus adamanteus) is the largest of the rattlesnakes. Specimens exceeding seven feet in length are well authenticated, although I cannot claim to have measured one myself; and eight- and nine-foot snakes have been reported, possibly with some basis of truth.
Reviewing all the reports and statistics concerning the maximum size attained by this snake, I should guess that, while the average adult male measures five feet, very rarely the eastern diamondback does measure eight feet, give or take an inch or so."

"Rattlesnakes are heavy-bodied, that is, they are thick in proportion to length, when compared with most snakes... The thickness of a snake's body, whether in terms of diameter or circumference, does not lend itself to accurate measurement... By the length-weight relationship (useful only for rattlers in the wild) a seven-foot rattler would weigh about fifteen pounds, and and eight
-footer about twenty-three pounds. The heaviest rattler of which I have heard was a seven foot five inch western diamond said to have weighed twenty-four pounds."

So, there you have it: 50 and 90 pound rattlesnakes as recently reported here are BS, and the purported lengths of nine and ten feet are bogus as well (not to mention the erroneously cited habitats). A currently posted image shows an allegedly 90 pound Western Diamondback being thrust forward at the end of a Pilstrom tong, in defiance of gravity and human musculature --- ain't true/never could've happened. Why this BS gets passed along unquestioned baffles me, as does much else...

 

[Texas Star]

jkc-

The 11 footer was shown in one of the outdoor magazines some years ago, I think, "Sports Afield". It showed several men holding the snake stretched out. It was presented as a serious photo, but I suppose that anything can be faked. It was a very old photo, before photo fakery became common.

I know that Klauber and others cite around eight feet as maximum, but some rattler lurking in the Everglades might exceed that. I don't think it would weigh a great deal, the weights that you cited being more realistic.

How long does the Bushmaster (Lachesis muta)get? Maybe 12-14 feet? It is usually conceded to be the longest pit viper.

When it comes to heavy snakes, I'd guess the anaconda would usually outweigh a python of similar length, although the reticulated python gets longer. Any snake over 30 feet would be remarkable today. I don't believe the stories of 50 footers in the Amazon region.

T-Star

 

[David LaPell]

Speaking of reptiles, I remember when I was a kid my grandfather talking to us about snapping turtles jaws working a good couple of days after they die. Once they bite down after death, they don't let go. I also know that if you don't put them in a bucket of scalding water before dressing them out, you'll never get those legs back out of that shell.

 

[Texas Star]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...82%D0%BE%D0%BD-2.jpg

I though that someone might enjoy seeing this shot of a reticulated python, which is known to exceed 30 feet.

T-Star