Big Snake Photos Debunked

One of our local TV stations was running a photo of what they alleged was a giant rattlesnake recently killed in West Odessa. The snake in the photo appears to be 10 or 11 feet in length, and the landscape is certainly consistent with that seen in our area. However, the snake in the photo is certainly not a rattler, and West Texas isn’t the only place in the world where the scenery is rather desolate scrub.

I direct your attention to this informative post, on a blog maintained by an Auburn University PhD candidate specializing in the study of reptiles and amphibians. He addresses a long series of widely-circulated photos purporting to document excessively large snakes, and expertly assesses their likely veracity.

In the case of the “Odessa Snake,” his opinion is that it’s a python and the photo was more likely taken somewhere in Africa. While I have no opinion regarding the location of the photo, I do agree with his assessment of the species of the snake. There’s nothing about the appearance of the snake in the photo that would cause one to mistake it for a rattler.

Nature has a way of confounding our preconceived notions about the size and variety of wildlife, and not every unbelievable photo is a fake. On the other hand, the application of a little common sense mixed with education will allow you to separate fiction from fact in the vast majority of cases.

Note: If you don’t like photos of snakes, especially those large enough to eat the family Schnauzer, don’t click on the preceding link. As if I have to tell you.