A friend of mine who used to live in Las Cruces posted this on FB. Found on the White Sands Golf Course.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... theaterGoi
I'm kind of a novice but is that not a huge gravid Atrox?
Big Atrox?
Moderator: Scott Waters
- The Real Snake Man
- Posts: 405
- Joined: June 12th, 2010, 4:08 pm
- Location: Pasadena, CA or Mission, TX
Re: Big Atrox?
Ah, the age-old trick. This looks to be maybe a four-foot rattlesnake (maybe smaller, maybe larger). Not a whopper by any means, but if you hold it up at tongs-length into the camera, with yourself in the background, it will look huge.
- Mark Brown
- Posts: 567
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 2:15 am
- Location: Austin, TX
Re: Big Atrox?
Forced perspective - used by fishermen for years to make their five-pound bass look like ten-pound bass.
Here's an interesting webpage put together by Dr David Steen to talk about forced perspective photos and to debunk giant rattlesnake fakes. He's a nice guy and if you forward him that photo, I'll bet he'll tell you he's seen it before, probably from different parts of the US.
http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/ ... snake.html
Here's an interesting webpage put together by Dr David Steen to talk about forced perspective photos and to debunk giant rattlesnake fakes. He's a nice guy and if you forward him that photo, I'll bet he'll tell you he's seen it before, probably from different parts of the US.
http://www.livingalongsidewildlife.com/ ... snake.html
Re: Big Atrox?
My favorite comment thus far for that FB post:
Gerry
I can just imagine how scared those kids must have been, having the adult responsible for them freak out like that just because there was some kind of snake somewhere in the vicinity of the cabin steps (which is about the most we can count on, if even that). I wonder what kind of drugs she was on at the time...Marie Turney Morrison Those from NM know it is not photoshopped. I remember 40 years ago as a camp counselor out of Cuba, NM, a rattlesnake was slithering up the stairs to come into our cabin door. I jumped out the window of the cabin with a hoe, the hoe placed in every cabin for rattlesnake purposes, and chopped its head off. I was only 19 at the time, scared out of my mind, having 8 year olds standing on their cots inside the cabin, scared out of their minds. What was really freakish that after it's head was gone, the snake was still slithering around for another 45 minutes.
Gerry
Re: Big Atrox?
Interesting.. Good I can use that for my fishing pictures!
Re: Big Atrox?
That snake looks liek it might be between 3 and 4 feet.
I've seen a lot of atrox in NM and they don't get particularly big there.
I've seen a lot of atrox in NM and they don't get particularly big there.
- Bryan Hamilton
- Posts: 1234
- Joined: June 10th, 2010, 9:49 pm
Re: Big Atrox?
I measured a 60" atrox near Albuquerque. That was the second or third biggest rattlesnakes I've seen in the field. There are some pockets of big atrox in Arizona too. It has a lot to do with habitat and proximity to humans. Forty inches can be a big atrox in some areas.chrish wrote:I've seen a lot of atrox in NM and they don't get particularly big there.
Re: Big Atrox?
A nice "rabbit killer" from the eve of my wedding; I wish I'd placed something next to the snake for reference. You know you're a herper when on the eve of your wedding your best friend/man is in town from South African and it's spent road cruising from Albuquerque to Deming, and then back up to the San Mateo Mountains for beer and camping.
- John Delgado
- Posts: 168
- Joined: June 29th, 2014, 11:10 am
- Location: Ukiah, CA
Re: Big Atrox?
This ↑↑↑ is exactly correct - We used to do that with fish when we was kids... my dad always used to say, "longer the arm - longer the fish"The Real Snake Man wrote:Ah, the age-old trick. This looks to be maybe a four-foot rattlesnake (maybe smaller, maybe larger). Not a whopper by any means, but if you hold it up at tongs-length into the camera, with yourself in the background, it will look huge.
Wanna see a BIG atrox... I don't know about, if this atrox weighed 40 pounds, or not... but, I'll say it had to be VERY-VERY heavy... look at this big boy, I'm gonna estimate modestly. He's maybe only around 65" to 70" length, but has to be at least 20" GIRTH...!
- Mark Brown
- Posts: 567
- Joined: June 8th, 2010, 2:15 am
- Location: Austin, TX
Re: Big Atrox?
It's safe to say that no rattlesnake weighs forty pounds. A good average for a large adult would be closer to ten pounds and a true whopper might go fifteen.
I get the biggest kick out of some of those faked photos where the poster claims the snake weighed 90 pounds or some nonsense like that, usually when the snake in the photo is being held out at arm's length toward the camera. That would be impossible even if the snake weighed half that much. Take a five-gallon paint bucket and fill it full of water - that's roughly forty pounds. The average person couldn't even lift if off the ground with a snake hook, let alone hold it out toward a camera. At twenty pounds, even a half-full bucket would be more than the average person could lift with an extended hook.
I get the biggest kick out of some of those faked photos where the poster claims the snake weighed 90 pounds or some nonsense like that, usually when the snake in the photo is being held out at arm's length toward the camera. That would be impossible even if the snake weighed half that much. Take a five-gallon paint bucket and fill it full of water - that's roughly forty pounds. The average person couldn't even lift if off the ground with a snake hook, let alone hold it out toward a camera. At twenty pounds, even a half-full bucket would be more than the average person could lift with an extended hook.
Re: Big Atrox?
ZirconJohn wrote:This ↑↑↑ is exactly correct - We used to do that with fish when we was kids... my dad always used to say, "longer the arm - longer the fish"The Real Snake Man wrote:Ah, the age-old trick. This looks to be maybe a four-foot rattlesnake (maybe smaller, maybe larger). Not a whopper by any means, but if you hold it up at tongs-length into the camera, with yourself in the background, it will look huge.
Wanna see a BIG atrox... I don't know about, if this atrox weighed 40 pounds, or not... but, I'll say it had to be VERY-VERY heavy... look at this big boy, I'm gonna estimate modestly. He's maybe only around 65" to 70" length, but has to be at least 20" GIRTH...!
NOT AN ATROX. Adamanteus
- John Delgado
- Posts: 168
- Joined: June 29th, 2014, 11:10 am
- Location: Ukiah, CA
Re: Big Atrox?
Oh ya... oops... my noobness is showing...! - Thank you... I hate when that happens...nhherp wrote:ZirconJohn wrote:This ↑↑↑ is exactly correct - We used to do that with fish when we was kids... my dad always used to say, "longer the arm - longer the fish"The Real Snake Man wrote:Ah, the age-old trick. This looks to be maybe a four-foot rattlesnake (maybe smaller, maybe larger). Not a whopper by any means, but if you hold it up at tongs-length into the camera, with yourself in the background, it will look huge.
Wanna see a BIG atrox... I don't know about, if this atrox weighed 40 pounds, or not... but, I'll say it had to be VERY-VERY heavy... look at this big boy, I'm gonna estimate modestly. He's maybe only around 65" to 70" length, but has to be at least 20" GIRTH...!
NOT AN ATROX. Adamanteus
Must remember; Western = atrox // Eastern = Adamanteus