{"id":443334,"date":"2026-10-31T06:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/443334\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T06:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T06:06:12","slug":"could-this-be-a-record-huge-rattlesnake-photographed-on-florida-golf-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/443334\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Could this be a record?’: Huge rattlesnake photographed on Florida golf course"},"content":{"rendered":"

A huge rattlesnake photographed in Florida had people debating whether they were looking at one of the biggest snakes of its kind in North America.<\/p>\n

Here’s what to know<\/p>\n

Photos of the snake, taken on Amelia Island, appeared<\/a> in a Reddit thread that picked up 4,500 upvotes and almost 600 comments.<\/p>\n

“It was about six feet long and very very thick,” the original poster wrote. “Could this be a record?”<\/p>\n

\"Photo\"Photo<\/p>\n

“No clue, but it is an absolute UNIT,” one commenter wrote<\/a>. Another joked<\/a>: “I didn’t know they could get that big. And I live in Australia.”<\/p>\n

One user cautioned<\/a>, “Scientists doing field studies are really really really bad at guesstimating the sizes of reptiles from a safe distance, with sizes that vary wildly from 20-200% compared to the actual length of, say, a snake.”<\/p>\n

“The largest confirmed specimen from 1946 was 3 inches short of 8 feet. That’s the largest whole rattlesnake ever measured, half a century ago,” one commenter who has worked in the field with diamondbacks said<\/a>. “Stretched skins and forced perspective will always produce incredible stories that have zero backing, just as people with a phobia will have a warped perception and inflate their reports.”<\/p>\n

More background<\/p>\n

“He controls the golf course now,” the OP said<\/a>, highlighting how large wildlife can adapt to human settings.<\/p>\n

Across the thread, there were stories about large snakes in yards, roads, neighborhoods, and recreation areas.<\/p>\n

The overlap between wildlife habitat and development is also part of the broader story behind animal-human encounters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What can be done?<\/p>\n

The OP stayed back, took photos, and asked others to identify and assess the animal from a distance.<\/p>\n

As for proving whether the rattlesnake was record-breaking, one commenter said<\/a>: “That’s a big diamondback for sure. They can get over 7 feet, but anything close to or over 6 is so rare that seeing one is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.<\/p>\n

“They are under review for listing as endangered and will almost certainly be designated as such in the next few years. I’ve spent a good part of my life roaming the woods in Florida, and I’ve only seen a handful.”<\/p>\n

Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n

Big snake sightings happen in Florida and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u2022 In Florida, a father and son spotted a plump eastern diamondback<\/a> while doing lawn work.<\/p>\n

\u2022 A Florida camera trap caught a bobcat attacking the world’s largest rattlesnake species<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 In South Carolina, an eastern diamondback swam the length of<\/a> a backyard pool.<\/p>\n

Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A huge rattlesnake photographed in Florida had people debating whether they were looking at one of the biggest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-443334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}