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Jumbo Diamondback Rattles Sebring Neighbors

Photo from Jim Epley

Jim Epley says he cut the rattles off and plans to put them in some sort of display frame.

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

Updated: 01/17/2008 04:40 pm

With a body as thick as a fencepost and a head like a clenched fist, the rattlesnake shook off the pesky .22-caliber bullets.

That's if the bullets even found the coiled, menacing serpent. The shooter didn't dare get any closer than 15 feet.

Jim Epley, who turned 74 last week, watched Wednesday morning as his neighbor used a .22-caliber handgun in an effort to dispatch the Eastern diamondback. Epley knew it would take more firepower.

He fetched his own .44-caliber Magnum. Two shots later, the snake was dead, although it continued to squirm form a while.

Epley said the reptile was in the neighbor's backyard in the Orange Blossom Acres.
"It was stalking a little kitten," Epley said.

Epley, who said he has lived in Colorado and Arizona and has never seen a rattlesnake this big, was eating breakfast with his wife on Monday morning when he heard the report of the .22.

The neighbor was "trying to shoot it with the .22," Epley said, "but he was afraid to get too close to him."

Epley walked over and saw the serpent. "I knew we would need something bigger than a .22 to kill that thing," he said. "It was the biggest rattlesnake I've ever seen."

Killing the snake with a pole or shovel wasn't even an option, he said.

"There is not a pole big enough around here for me to kill him with a pole," he said.

Epley fired his shots from about 15 feet, he said. He was afraid to get any closer.

"It was coiled up," Epley said, "and its head was moving back and forth like a cobra."

The subdivision is divided into 1-acre lots, he said, and much of the land has scrub oaks and palmetto bushes, perfect for a rattlesnake.

"We have pets here, dogs, cats, and we even have kids once in a while in our backyards," he said. "My only hope is that there are not two of them."

After the creature was dispatched, Epley opened its mouth with a stick and peered inside. He said the fangs looked to be more than 2 inches long. The viper measured 6 feet in length and was about 5 inches thick.

There were 16 rattles. He cut the rattles off and plans to put them in some sort of display frame, he said.

"I might give them to my granddaughter," he said.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Gary Morse said rattlesnakes are not a protected species, and if they're on private land, they're fair game.

"It's not unusual for rattlesnakes to be out sunning themselves or trying to warm up this time of year," Morse said. "They are less active if it's cold. They are coldblooded creatures; their metabolism slows down and they don't feed quite as often."

The method of snake killing, he said, pretty much is up to the individual. Bullets are humane, but whatever the approach taken, "individuals always should use caution."

"If they live in an area where they can tolerate the snakes, fine," he said. "If they decide that the snake is a problem, they certainly can take legal methods to dispatch a snake."

But to avoid any risk, a licensed nuisance trapper should be called, he said. If you need a trapper, go to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Web site, www.myfwc.com, for a list of nuisance trappers in West Central Florida. Or call the wildlife office at (863) 648-3200.

The axiom that rattlesnakes grow a rattle a year is a myth, he said.

"They grow a rattle every time they shed their skin," he said. "Sometimes they lose rattles." The frequency of shedding varies, he said, depending on how often they eat and the health of the reptile.

The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is the largest venomous snake in North America. Record setters have stretched to about 8 feet and can tip the scales at 10 pounds, according to the National Geographic Web site.

The pit viper species lives in dry landscapes from southern North Carolina to Florida and west to Louisiana.

Eastern diamondbacks have a reputation for being deadly and aggressive, even though they are averse to contact with humans, the Web site said. They mostly attack when threatened. The distance of their strike is generally one-third of their body length.

Dan Costell, the reptile keeper at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, said the 16 rattles mean Epley's snake probably was 15 to 20 years old.

Costell said that although snakes can be a problem when in proximity to people, the best thing to do is let them go on their way.

"Most snakebites are the result of people trying to catch them or kill them," he said.

If snakes present an immediate problem, a trapper should be called, he said.

Trappers "will come out and take it and release it somewhere else," he said.

"If you start messing with it, that's when you will start getting into problems," he said. "They would rather hide and be away from people."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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