The romantic notion of country living often needs some seasoning of reality.
Tell Blanke, an incoming freshman at Cal Poly SLO majoring in engineering, noticed this rattlesnake crawling out of the rocks beneath the house where he and his mother Terri live along the Kaweah River in Three Rivers. By the time he got to the river’s edge the snake had crawled through his Aunt Tammy’s yard and was headed towards his grandparents’ house where he dispatched him. The Britten ‘compound’, as Robbin refers to this generational cluster of houses on the river, enjoys a sandy beach and excellent swimming hole most all summer.
For perspective’s sake, Tell is about 6’ 3” and still a bit shaky when Terri snapped this photograph yesterday with her iPhone. Our neighbor up the road has killed seven rattlesnakes from beneath their deck. Fortunately, Robbin and I haven’t killed any, but we’ve been keeping our eyes peeled.
drycrikjournal 
Wow, that’s an enormous rattler!! I can imagine he would be a bit shaky and why not?! Have a great weekend, John.
janet
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WOW!!!
How many rattles had he collected on his tail? We moved into a place up in the Livermore Hills many years ago. The boys killed one about that length but not as hefty looking. He had a lot of rattles, but I don’t remember how many. Both of them wore hatbands made from his skin for several years.
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Thats one to brag about!
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Dear God…that’s a big one. I so hate those things!
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We’ve got black snakes at our place, but they’re shy and we leave them alone. Tiger snakes and brown snakes, that’d be a different matter – not that there’s much you can do about them, really. People have this thing that emits a noise snakes hate – I want one!
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