A friend of mine posted this on FB

[badrose]

Here's the post:

This has got to be the biggest rattler on record. Pat Long and his son in a blind to hunt hogs near Midway when this guy poked his head in! Pat's son shot the snake... it's 9'6" long... with 22 rattles, the head more than five inches wide, the fangs 2.5" long. Anybody going for a walk in the woods this weekend? Share with your friends and see who has good snake stories!

[Darrell KSR]

http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.c...ttlesnake.html

Conclusion: The length of this snake is definitely made-up and multiple (and improbable) locations point to a hoax.

Update 3/7/13, so many additional stories and locations about this snake have popped up that I stopped bothering to update the post, but recently many have claimed the snake was from Texas. In any case, it looks like the real story has finally surfaced: the snake is from Levy County, Florida and is claimed as 6'9" and 15 lbs. A rattlesnake that big would be very large but Eastern Diamondbacks can reach that length. However, it doesn't look that long in the picture.

Update 5/2/13: OK-one more update, the picture is circulating with this story a lot, so I'm obliged to note that it's not true either: "Pat Long and his son in a blind to hunt hogs near Midway when this guy poked his head in! Pat's son shot the snake... it's 9'6" long... with 22 rattles, the head more than five inches wide, the fangs 2.5" long. Anybody going for a walk in the woods this weekend? Share with your friends and see who has good snake stories!" Bogus.

[blueboss]

I came across a 6', 13 rattle diamondback in Jensen Beach Fl. I had his head jammed in a large Skippy peanut butter jar of formaldehyde until the lid rusted through and it dried up. The skin which I was going to make a hat band out of got taken by someone who felt like they needed it more than me.

[badrose]

http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.c...ttlesnake.html

Conclusion: The length of this snake is definitely made-up and multiple (and improbable) locations point to a hoax.

Update 3/7/13, so many additional stories and locations about this snake have popped up that I stopped bothering to update the post, but recently many have claimed the snake was from Texas. In any case, it looks like the real story has finally surfaced: the snake is from Levy County, Florida and is claimed as 6'9" and 15 lbs. A rattlesnake that big would be very large but Eastern Diamondbacks can reach that length. However, it doesn't look that long in the picture.

If the guy holding it is 5 feet and change it looks to be 6'9" easy.

[suncat05]

All I know about that is this: I see any poisonous snake in my AO, it's getting shot as many times as necessary to kill it.

[Darrell KSR]

Another example from that site.

[badrose]

Good catch, D. The trick seems to be covering up whatever you call the things they're using to hold the snakes up. Clever, but really dishonest. Just shows again how really naive I am.

[Darrell KSR]

Oh, I still don't get it. I mean, I "get it," but it still doesn't seem like it can make it look that much out of proportion. Then again, I am still amazed at water turning into ice, so it doesn't take much to befuddle me.

[blueboss]

There is probably some direct correlation between number of rattles and overall length. Plus the size of the head in the picture is pretty telling unless the guy wheres a size 5 shoe. I'm more amazed at the girth on that thing the top half seems normal while the tail half looks like it might be passing a small gator or something.