15 Foot Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Caught in Florida-Fiction!

15 Foot Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Caught in Florida-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor:
A forwarded email with photos of a captured snake saying that a gigantic Eastern diamondback rattlesnake measuring 15 feet in length was caught in St. Augusta, Florida.

The Truth:
This tale is fiction. A public information officer with the St. Johns County Sheriff's department told TruthOrFiction.com that there was an incident involving a large Eastern diamondback rattlesnake in July 2009 but the snake was 7'3" in length.

The photos, taken by an unidentified civilian, were an unintentional trick of camera perspective. The captured snake was closer to the photographer than the law enforcement officer shown in the background. This made the venomous reptile appear larger than life.

Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes in the wild have been known to grow up to 8' in length.

update 01/28/10

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

How would you like to take that call?

…near the St. Augustine outlet, in a new KB homes subdivision.

15 foot Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake.

Largest ever caught on record.

At least it wasn't found in a Wal-Mart garden shop.