I was close. Way to close to this bad boy!
I didn’t kill it, I let it go. I estimate it’s 5.5 ft long. That’s a big Timber Rattler!
First time I’ve seen one around the place…and it’s a biggun’.
I have not wet or messed my pants in at least 50 yrs
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Don’t be surprised if you see more. My cousin is a rattlesnake environmentalist. He has to find rattlesnakes & their dens before any development project begins.
He’s much more comfortable with the critters than I am! This is a 57" timber rattler.
According to him (and other sources), rattlesnakes rarely travel more than a mile from their den. Imagine a giant wheel with the den at the center. The females crawl out the spokes while the males will work their way around the circle of the wheel, searching for food and a mate. When hibernation time comes, everybody goes back to the den.
So there is a reasonable chance there is a rattlesnake den within one mile of your place.
Don’t go sticking you hands in any holes! 
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Thanks for that info.
There’s a rather large sink hole within 100 meters of where I ran into this snake.
Sinkhole is at least 60ft deep and at least 30 yards across. There is no doubt it’s full of rattlers. Just the first time I’ve ever seen one.
If your cousin ever ends up S of Nashville and wants to find some snakes? I’d enjoy spending a few hours with him around that sinkhole. He’d probably be in “snake heaven”.
I let this one go because it was 1/8-1/4 mile from house…won’t be as fortunate if it comes closer to the house and my critters/farm animals. I try to let them all live - especially the friendly ones around the house.
That one he’s holding? Yep, looks to be about the same size as the one in my pic.
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I don’t know if he will ever get that way, but it’s possible…if Walmart plans on building on your land. That’s when his company gets called in to do the environmental impact statement.
He’s my cousin & you can’t pick your relatives, but I think he’s nuts! He brought that one to a family reunion so he could “teach all the nieces & nephews about the wonders of nature.” He assigned me the job of using a Sharpie to paint the rattlers rattle. That’s how they ID the one’s they’ve already captured. He even puts tiny radio trackers on them so they locate the den. It’s all very interesting, but I still think he’s nuts!
S of Nashville, eh? Back in the 20th Century I used to live in Lawrenceburg, about 70 miles south of the Batman Building. Loved it there!
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If it means anything? I think your cousin is nuts too! Ha ha.
I was raised in an area with a lot of copperheads and my parents knew it. They knew they had to make me terrified of snakes. Still am today. Still thank my parents for making me as such, saved my hide many times from getting bitten…because I am always looking. Had nightmares about that rattler all night after running into it that day. It’ll make me tiptoe a bit lighter around the place until winter…because I am checking every step. It’ll wear off.
I am nestled between Murfreesboro and Franklin off rt 96. Been to 40 “ish” different countries, and all over the U.S. Hard to find an area like this. This area is “Top 10” place to live in the U.S.
You won’t recognize it if you ever come back.
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Don’t worry it’s like riding a bike - as you get older it happens when you least expect it.
