Quote:
Originally Posted by Buff
We had a family reunion in Aiden near my dad's homestead. Prime rattlesnake country. Anyways, a kid spotted a rattlesnake outside the community hall and my uncle ran outside, grabbing a shovel on his way out. He figured he would pick it up and move it far away. Well when he got outside he was surprised. It was a 6' rattler, it was coiled and just beginning to strike. My uncle got it with the shovel, a lucky hit that beheaded the snake. The snake's body slithered for the next hour or so while my uncle skinned it.
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A six-footer eh? That's a big one ... he'd have a striking range of around 4 feet. Your family really knows how to hold a rockin' family reunion!
It's a shame, but rattlers are getting scarcer it seems. At least along the northern part of their range ... that being the Red Deer River. I saw one this summer at Dinosaur Park north of Brooks, but that's the first one I've seen in the Red Deer valley for quite a few years. Apparently all the paved roads are the cause. They like to lay on the pavement and sun themselves, and get ran over as a result. There seems to be fewer Bull snakes too, probably for the same reason.