The biggest "copperhead" you'll ever see :)

[Cholo]

This is a local news story from yesterday. "This morning one of our oficers (sic) killed this copperhead as it came out of the sewer in front of the courthouse. Please avoid the sewers as we think there is (sic) more snakes in them."

The ignorance is strong with this one

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/37798711/calhoun-mayor-on-fake-facebook-post-no-snakes-in-sewer-system

EDIT: Oops, I can't believe I forgot the link

 

[arfmel]

Link? Pitcher? I gots to know...

 

[Fox Mike]

Lawyers sneaking out again? :roll: :roll:

 

[contender]

And that's not even a copperhead. Fake news, fake news!

(PS; If that snake was in the sewer,, he was hunting rats. And he came out,,, near the courthouse,, looking for bigger rats,,, politicians & lawyers!)

 

[Fox Mike]

If they REALLY had copperheads that big I hate to think about how large the local rattlesnakes are gonna be. :shock:

 

[314Chevy]

Still good advice to avoid crawling around sewer systems, but I bet most of us already knew that.

 

[coach]

When I was a youngster we sometimes explored in some local storm sewers. Never came across any snakes though.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

And that's not even a copperhead. Fake news, fake news!

(PS; If that snake was in the sewer,, he was hunting rats. And he came out,,, near the courthouse,, looking for bigger rats,,, politicians & lawyers!)

For us folks that didn't live around snakes please educate us. What is it???

 

[Cholo]

It's an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.

It's funny that no one connected with the article actually knew what a Copperhead looks like and went with the fake Facebook posting

 

[Buckshot Bill]

If that's not a photoshopped pic, then that is most certainly an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, and one heck of a big one!!

 

[Bob Wright]

Eastern diamondbacks do get pretty big. And the piney woods of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia produce some big ones. Not very long, but big in girth.


Bob Wright

 

[Cholo]

Here's a good pic of one and a short synopsis from Nat Geo:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/e/eastern-diamondback-rattlesnake

Dunno, but I'd think one that went upwards of 8' would weigh more than 10#'s.

 

[blume357]

The link now says it was all fake.....

 

[Cholo]

Blume, the article now is the exact same article I linked to. It's very clear what it's about

 

[Mike J]

I saw that post on F book the other night but to be honest I didn't examine it closely. I do remember thinking, "Man that is a big snake," but that was about it.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Copperheads dont get anywhere near that big.

 

[contender]

As noted, it's an Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake. There are (I think if my faded memory is correct,) 17 varieties of rattlesnake in North America. The Eastern is the largest of them all. Six footers are not uncommon, and their girth, as well as weight is very noticeable. When I was 15, on a trip to Central Florida, with my BSA Troop, we caught, live, a nice one. It was a tad over 6 ft, a female, and her head was as big as a man's fist. Her nose was about 1-1/2" wide across the front. She lived at the Scout Base in a display for about 3 years after we caught her. The head ranger used to keep snakes back then, before the Council made him remove any "dangerous" ones. When she died of natural causes, he skinned & tanned the hide. Hung it on his office door. I have pictures somewhere of him milking her.
If you want to see prime examples of one of them, go to Ross Allen Reptile Institute in Central Florida. They have some NICE ones there.

 

[Fox Mike]

Having seen both in the wild I can assure you, you would never mistake a rattlesnake for a copperhead.

 

[Tom W]

No, there are only Six types of poisonous snakes in America: Big ones, little ones, Male, female, dead and alive, and I don't much care for any of them.... :shock:

 

[Conservative]

Yesterday, while mowing, just ahead of me on the grass was a Cotton Mouth WaterMocassin.

As a younger guy my automatic response would be death for the snake.

No longer.

I'll probably never see it again.

At this time of year, I generally see CMWM and Coral snakes in my back yard. At times, I simply/harmlessly remove them to a more amenable location. Rarely, though I have killed them, do I.

Why not?

They do more good than harm, and the chances of being bitten are low...if you keep your eyes out.

And I do.

Though once, while splitting wood, I spotted a CMWM well within striking distance of me. He'd apparently been there for some time without acting aggressive.

Just the opposite in the movies, lethal animals don't automatically hurt you.

I learned this many years ago diving in shark infested waters in the tropics. Most of these critters are simply curious. I've hand fed and petted Moray eels, but that's not for everyone.

My point: Don't assume that if an animal 'can' harm you, it automatically will.