Watch: Record-Breaking Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake in Action

I encountered many large/long snakes in my life…grew up with a rice field in backyard El Campo Tx…but when i bowhunted the freer area in 1986 i was coming back from the evening hunt going uphill against the setting sun glare… my hand cupped over my forehead to assist in seeing the cowtrail…by the time I saw him/her i was within 3’the coiled rattler who was blocking the trail…never made a sound just coiled n cocked waiting for dinner I assume…i made human noises in a hopped retreat…. I knew they were in area we had a fresh shower the day bofore…it had flooded days prior…October early…I had to take this snake NO one was gonna believe the size…I couldn’t believe it…so I backed up pulled my compound bow and tried to connect at ten or so feet…schmalk hit the ground miss!…i released another ruined another broad head…time to change tactics…looked for a long enuff limb…found one came back to engage swung down and pulled back I wasnt sure he couldn’t STILL strike me WAY TOO BIG…now hes leaving hes got coils there still and extended at least six feet then longer —- still got coiles— wait a minute …I press him with the limb but I retreat hes TOO frigin big…i look for another longer limb…hes now coiled at the base of a cedar…never so far has he made a sound…i throw a rock NOW hes mad he rattles …now im talking to god hollering why did he make such a snake…i pause a minute keep cussing …I surrendered and told mr snake hes RIGHT im intruding and I left …no proof…no snake…but im not bitten…People just do NOT realize how big A WESTERN diamond can get…biologist insist on Show the proof…well he WAS at least 8’ PLUS…again im not an exaggerated nutbag…just a witness Cheers hope you enjoy my encounter and always carry snake shot…i wont hunt without ir Period! I’ve encountered rattlesnakes in January out and about with a 28 deg morning in Mississippi my new home…just little guys timber rattlesnakes…be prepared…i dont killem for no reason but I should have taken that dude in TX no matter what… its one of my demons i ponder upon Serously sincerity David Svoboda

In Fayetteville, NC, during some downtown revitalization some years ago, a row of very older houses on Person St. were demolished by the city for the new fire station that was relocated a 1/4 mile from in town to it's current location. In the process of removing these antiquated structures, the city workers came across a 10 ft. eastern diamond back that they killed & the city newspaper entitled Fayetteville Observer invetigated & took photographs of the 3 workers standing beside each other holding at least a 3 ft. section of the dead snake. No one one believed the story at 1st, until it was displayed in the local newspaper, & then everyone was paranoid as to how such a large snake could have been living so close to the downtown area without anyone seeing it. According the account, there was a healthy rat/mice population that emerged during demolition.

My m-i-law drove her mother to a remote field to check the crop in the 1960's in W Hickman Co, TN. Returning to the car, they observed the tall hay moving almost flat in a very long serpentine pattern. Terrified m-i-l crawled over the car thru an open car window on the opposite side. Both died convinced it was an E Diam Rattlesnake @ least 8 ft of huge girth, based on damage to hay field & movement pattern. Given remoteness & ideal resources, & that both had been born & raised around plentiful snakes, fam believes it was prob an undocumented E Diam world record. Timbers were very common, an occas pygmy, but E Diams were present but rarely seen & greatly feared. My bro-i-law & I are prob the only living fam who heard this discussed many times over the yrs.

There are some churches in eastern Kentucky that would pay good money for that guy.

In the 1970s, a logging crew killed a 10.5-ft, 110 lb. Eastern Diamondback in the Okefenoke Swamp area. It made all the local papers.