15 Foot Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Caught in Florida-Fiction!

15 Foot Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Caught in Florida-Fiction!

 
Summary of 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.  Other versions of this eRumor with the same photos allege that this is the deadly Western diamondbacked rattlesnake and was caught near Meza, Arizona.

 
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.
The Western diamondbacked rattlesnake is indigenous to Arizona but they have been known to live 15 to 20 years in captivity and are 3 to 5 feet in average length but have a few of these rattlers have been known to grow up to 7 feet in length.

update 08/26/12