# Beware the Deadly "Water Rattler"!



## pitbulllady (Apr 3, 2010)

If you mess around with snakes enough, you get exposed to countless myths and wives' tales, many of which take on mythical proportions.  Here in the Southeastern US, one of the most persistent myths concerns the existance of an especially-lethal serpent called a "Water Rattler", which makes a Bushmaster seem cuddly by comparison.  According to some, it's a hybrid between a Rattlesnake and a Cottonmouth, with the pattern of the Rattler, minus the rattles, and the white mouth lining of the Cottonmouth, only it's twice the size of the largest specimens of either and the venom is twice as potent.  Others say it's a completely new species, while others claim it's a rattle-less Rattlesnake that grows to monstrous proportions.  All agree that it's super-venomous and super-aggressive, that it will chase you down and kill in in 15 seconds flat.  One of my buddies, who works on old cars with me and does the paint and body work on my Studebakers, introduced me to one of his friends a couple of years ago, who lives on the infamous Scape Ore Swamp in Lee County, SC, which is reportedly home to our most-famous "cryptid", "Lizard Man".  This guy swears that the swamp is infested with "Water Rattlers", which grow to be 12-13 feet long and won't hesitate to attack a human, unprovoked.  No amount of arguing will convince him that there is no such animal.  He claims to have caught or killed several.  I've challenged him repeatedly to show me one, to show me proof of their existance.

So, tonight, I get a call from my car-painting buddy, telling me that this guy has just called him and told him that he's caught a "Water Rattler", a six-footer, that's mean as heck, and would he mind calling me and telling me to meet him at the car guy's house so he can show me what an idiot I am by showing me a real, live, deadly Water Rattler?  Well, far be it from me to turn down THAT, so I hurridly dry my hair(just got out of the shower), throw on some clothes, put the "hot box" venomous container along with my trusty Midwest snake tongs in the car just in case it turns out to be a decent-looking Canebrake or other familiar native "hot" and head out.  

Guy shows up carrying a Diamond dog food bag, into which he's stuffed a snake, one which he insists is a really mean six-foot Water Rattler.  I'm pretty eager to take a look inside that bag, though honesly, I'm not expecting anything even venomous, let alone unusual.  He's giving me all these dire and very-serious warnings not to get too close, since the snake will "jump out after me".  I take a look inside and see...a perfectly ordinary, run-of-the-mill _Pantherophis obsoletta_, a Black Rat Snake, about four feet long.  So, I just casually reach inside and pick it up, while the guy who caught it is going ape-doo-doo and my car-painting buddy is going, "See, I told you she'd do that-now you owe me ten bucks!"  They had an actual bet going, with my friend betting that I'd pick up the snake, and the guy who caught it betting that I'd wouldn't, or at least, that I wouldn't be able to do so and survive.  And to think I packed my venomous box for nothing.

It's not even an aggressive snake, very passive and calm for a wild-caught Black Rat.  The guy starts swearing that its head was much, much bigger when he caught it, and it was a good two feet longer...I offered that the contact with the few remaining nuggets of Diamond Hi-Pro must have caused it to shrink and morph into a harmless Rat Snake.  Then he starts in with, "OK, I know THIS is just a Rat Snake, but there really ARE Water Rattlers all over the place where I live!"

Jeesh, some people don't even learn from being pwned.  At least I got a nice snake for doing educational talks with.

pitbulllady


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## pearldrummer (Apr 3, 2010)

haha great story! Kind of funny I am somewhat distantly related to the Studebaker's and my grandfather had a Studebaker which is now my brothers. I have yet to actually see the car though.


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## Faing (Apr 3, 2010)

Cute and funny. I live around SE United States and sadly I have heard this myth before or something similar. It's gotta be up there somewhere with the belief that "granddaddy longlegs" are the most venomous spider alive but can't bite you.


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## ZergFront (Apr 4, 2010)

Really appreciated the story. That was incredibly funny.


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## Obelisk (Apr 4, 2010)

It's always interesting to see how word on a cryptid starts to develop. 

The idea of some weird creature lurking in the swamp or whatever is fascinating. But really, people will find anything fool others (even themselves) into thinking that there's some sort of creature roaming about, usually for the excitement of it.


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## Beardo (Apr 4, 2010)

LOL....great story. 

A few years ago when I worked at Petsmart, an old lady came into the store carrying a gallon bucket, claiming to have caught a "Horny Toad"...."biggest 'un she'd ever seened!"....turns out it was an adult Bearded Dragon that must've escaped from a neighbor's place or something, lol.


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## redrumpslump (Apr 4, 2010)

It's not a myth. I got one I keep chained up  by my leprachoun.


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## Scoolman (Apr 4, 2010)

pitbulllady said:


> So, I just casually reach inside and pick it up...and my car-painting buddy is going, "See, I told you she'd do that-now you owe me ten bucks!"


That is priceless. 
I had a similar indecent at Cub Scout Day camp a couple summers ago. The whole camp was in an uproar as the grounds keeper go running by me at top speed screaming "rattle snake! Stay away from the flag pole until I get the shovel!"
Naturally, I went straight to the flag pole. There on the concrete slab, sunning itself, was a good sized common bull snake. Before the grounds keeper could come back behead the poor innocent creature, I scooped it up and held a brief education session, then went up into the hills and released it.


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## pouchedrat (Apr 4, 2010)

yeah I work with people like that.  I have this one coworker who absolutely hates snakes, and forces her husband to kill ANY they find, no matter what it is, and will not rest at night unless she knows it's been killed.

Well the reason behind it?  Apparently when she was a kid, there was a rumor about a boy who went swimming in a local pond, and was "shredded to bits, eaten alive" by a large swarm of water snakes.  I TRIED explaining to her how impossible that was, snakes don't tear chunks out of a human to eat them, and certainly not by swarms.  She would hear none of it and insisted it to be true.   It's amazing how people will get one thing in their head and they refuse to listen to anyone else, and insist what they know to be true no matter how unlikely.


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## Chilobrachys (Apr 4, 2010)

I cant even count the number of times I've heard about "cotton mouths" in southern Ohio.  Probably just the Northern water snakes.  But there's no shaking a believer.


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## pitbulllady (Apr 4, 2010)

Nope, once a moron gets an idea in their head, it's there for good.  The funny thing is, the guy who caught this snake said that he showed it to an old Black guy who lived nearby, and THAT guy told him it was a "Chicken Snake"(a common local name for a Rat Snake)and he'd told the old guy that he was the idiot, basically, when the old guy had been right all along.  I doubt he went back an apologized to the old guy after getting pwned by me, though. 
It never ceases to amaze me how many myths there are about snakes and how many people would rather cling to those than to learn and accept the truth.  Of course, with the media having made snakes the "new Pit Bull" and shoving their fear-mongering down everyone's throats, us snake keepers have got a real uphill battle against ignorance and stupidity.  Whether it's a mythical "Water Rattler", or Coachwhips that chase you down and beat you do death with their tails, or ravenous hoards of Piranha Water Snakes that rip skiers and swimmers to shreds and 30-foot-long Pythons that can survive sub-zero temperatures to eat every child in sight, people would just rather believe a myth over the truth.

pitbulllady


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## Mack&Cass (Apr 5, 2010)

Don't forget the friend of your neighbour's cousin's ex-wife who had a [insert large snake here] and it slept in bed with her and was starving itself and sizing her up to eat her.

Cass


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## whitewolf (Apr 5, 2010)

:clap: Best myth by far. Can I add that to the power point under myths.  If your an old redneck who lives in the woods you don't have a water rattler. There is no such snake. I never heard half of them till I got to doing some digging. Way to funny stuff biting there tails and rolling to chase you, the rattling tails, and best one is snakes jumping 2 feet.  Who made these up and why.


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 5, 2010)

Water rattler is a new one for me. In these parts a similar creature has been cooked up, only instead of a rattler/cottonmouth hybrid, it's a black rat snake/copperhead hybrid. Our black rats are _Elaphe  obsoleta obsoleta_. Is your _Pantherophis obsoletta_ a different critter or was obsoleta obsoleta reclassified and I didn't get the memo? I'm pretty sure that I've extolled the virtues of black rats before, but I'll reiterate that I think they are great snakes. In my experience, wild-caughts are only temperamental a short time, usually it's a matter of just 15 minutes before I can cautiously start free handling them. In an hour it's often like I've had them in captivity for years. Been bit by a fair share of them, though.

Anyhow, that's an amusing story.


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## pitbulllady (Apr 5, 2010)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> Water rattler is a new one for me. In these parts a similar creature has been cooked up, only instead of a rattler/cottonmouth hybrid, it's a black rat snake/copperhead hybrid. Our black rats are _Elaphe  obsoleta obsoleta_. Is your _Pantherophis obsoletta_ a different critter or was obsoleta obsoleta reclassified and I didn't get the memo? I'm pretty sure that I've extolled the virtues of black rats before, but I'll reiterate that I think they are great snakes. In my experience, wild-caughts are only temperamental a short time, usually it's a matter of just 15 minutes before I can cautiously start free handling them. In an hour it's often like I've had them in captivity for years. Been bit by a fair share of them, though.
> 
> Anyhow, that's an amusing story.


You missed the memo, lol.  North American _Elaphe_ were changed to _Pantherophis_ several years ago, actually, although I still tend to call them _Elaphe_, too, from time to time.  I'm just "old-school" like that, I guess.

It seems that most regions of the US have some persistent myth about various snakes hybridizing to create some horrific monster snake that is far deadlier than either of its parents.  Out west, there are a lot of people who still argue that Bull or Gopher Snakes can mate with Rattlers to create a "Bull Rattler", which looks like a harmless Bull Snake but has the deadly venom of the Rattlesnake.  If I had to guess, I'd say that the tail-shaking which nearly all snakes do when they feel alarmed or threatened leads folks who don't know snakes to assume that the snake must be part Rattlesnake, since they also assume that only Rattlers do that.  That, and, I'd guess that alcohol consumption at some point played a big role in the generation of these myths, and it wasn't the snakes who were drinking!

pitbulllady


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## RoachGirlRen (Apr 5, 2010)

This was just plain hilarious. Thanks for sharing


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## Sarcastro (Apr 6, 2010)

that is hilarious...thats happened to me before as well at my uncles place in Kentucky they have this myth of an all black rattlesnake that don't rattle  that has 3 inch fangs and can spit venom 20ft..they all call it a blow viper..it turns out it was a blue race (which is super rare down there because its kinda out of it's natural range)just huffing and puffing...people are strange sometimes.


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## Cirith Ungol (Apr 6, 2010)

Loved your story PBL, but the guy has me going :wall:


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## pitbulllady (Apr 6, 2010)

Well, since I am currently in possession of the world's only specimen of Eastern Water Rattler, to which I've assigned the scientific name of _Hydrocrotalus mythologicalis_, I figured, why be stingy?  Why not at least share pics of the fearsome beastie?

So, without further ado, here they are; yes, that's my hand holding this deadly creature to show how brave I am!







Now, tell me this isn't scary!






Oooh...rainbows...now THAT'S some scary stuff...no wonder these things are so feared!






This is actually the ultra-rare "Greenish" phase of Water Rattler, which is an intergrade between the more-common Black phase and the Yellow Phase, which is normally limited to Florida and Georgia.  That makes it even more special.  And no, it hasn't bitten me yet, though it did strike at the camera, which is now swollen to nearly 10 times its normal size from the effects of the lethal venom.

pitbulllady


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## Cirith Ungol (Apr 7, 2010)

OMG OMG OMG!!! Are you crazy! That you dare holding it like that! *runs off screaming at high pitch*


*runs back*
Nice snake btw! =)


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## Aurelia (Apr 7, 2010)

So would a water rattler splash you as a warning?


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## Cirith Ungol (Apr 7, 2010)

Aurelia said:


> So would a water rattler splash you as a warning?


Hahaa! Or maybe they squirt water like archer fish


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## presurcukr (Apr 7, 2010)

redrumpslump said:


> It's not a myth. I got one I keep chained up  by my leprachoun.


that would be your _leprechaun._  and i have one next to my skunk ape lol


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## Rockstarpets (Apr 7, 2010)

That is hilarious, haven't heard of that one in the West here.  However, being a retail store, I get this crap ALL the time!  Let me re-run some of my favorites:

  Every home in Utah has Brown Recluse and if you find one it is reason for SHEER PANIC!!!  (and the spraying of mass pesticides that is more likely to harm your family than the spider).

  The most common snake in the wild here is the Western Diamondback (not native), and not common Pituophis; and the average size for the Diamondbacks are 8+ feet.

  A. iodius is deadly and aggressive.

  Most of my customers have or have had 10-20+ foot red tail boas (largest I heard and they INSISTED was 28 feet).

  If you see a rattlesnake you should immediately run as fast as you can, suck the "poison" out when you are bit, and you have less than 15 minutes to get antivenom before you DIE!  (from a basin rattler mind you)

  I could go on and on but these are some of the most common that I get.


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## whitewolf (Apr 7, 2010)

Watch those fingers there's no anti venom yet. It's just wayyyyy to rare. ROFL. Careful the rainbow is hypnotizing.


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## Sarcastro (Apr 7, 2010)

That is a beautiful snake(no sarcasm) ...Why is it always the most beautiful creatures have to be the most deadly...lol


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## the toe cutter (Apr 12, 2010)

I am from Georgia, and believe me I have heard many tales of man eating/murdering reptiles. One I was particularly enthralled with was the dreaded copperheaded water rattler(no joke), which I always thought was either plain ole nonsense or a mistaken variety of one of the 11 species of watersnake in Georgia! But due to recent light being shed upon the water rattlers apparent existence, perhaps it could another integrated sub species! Just think, the combination of the water rattler with another fellow Agkistrodon entered into the mix! That being said, I think I've finally found what my lifes work will be. Hunting down these vile creatures to prove to the world that the education system in the southern US is still viable!

BTW, dont ever give the skunk ape PBR! Ever seen deliverance?


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 13, 2010)

The truly frightening things are the Cottonmouth  Hoop Python Copperheaded Water-Rattlers that have overrun the Everglades since Burmese pythons were introduced. I have it on good authority that after running you down,  these 40 foot monstrous reptiles hypnotize you, inject you with a venom that they create by eating skunk apes, turn your skeletal system to jelly with their coils, and then for good measure, spit a mouthful of brown recluse-black widow spider hybrids all over you! 
Luckily, they are easily identifiable by  skull and cross-bone patterns alternated with bio-hazard symbols down their entire length. But those are the juveniles. The adults are said to be a lot bigger,and invisible. They haven't been seen by the hundreds down there. And if any more are not seen it could be an ecological disaster. I'm told that you used to never see any only in the remote areas, but now it isn't uncommon to never see them in the urban areas.


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## pitbulllady (Apr 13, 2010)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> The truly frightening things are the Cottonmouth  Hoop Python Copperheaded Water-Rattlers that have overrun the Everglades since Burmese pythons were introduced. I have it on good authority that after running you down,  these 40 foot monstrous reptiles hypnotize you, inject you with a venom that they create by eating skunk apes, turn your skeletal system to jelly with their coils, and then for good measure, spit a mouthful of brown recluse-black widow spider hybrids all over you!
> Luckily, they are easily identifiable by  skull and cross-bone patterns alternated with bio-hazard symbols down their entire length. But those are the juveniles. The adults are said to be a lot bigger,and invisible. They haven't been seen by the hundreds down there. And if any more are not seen it could be an ecological disaster. I'm told that you used to never see any only in the remote areas, but now it isn't uncommon to never see them in the urban areas.




Yeah, the History Channel's "MonsterQuest" show had an episode on those recently, only they claimed that these were hybrids of Burmese Pythons and King Cobras...pffft...goes to show you can't believe everything you see on tv.  The show also claimed that due to Global Warming....er, excuse me, CLIMATE change, these hybrids would be able to colonize Green Bay, WI, within the next ten years.  They even brought out some top scientists, including that Rodda guy, to make it look legit.  MY worst fear is that these deadly hybrids will mate with Coachwhips, to make a 30-foot-long snake that spits deadly venom, can crush your bones in its powerful constrictor grip AND move over 60 mph, enabling it to chase down any living thing, beat it to death with its tail, and devour it whole.  Not only that, but it will have the Coachwhip's ability to mimic a child in distress to lure adults into its coils.

pitbulllady


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## Tim Benzedrine (Apr 13, 2010)

We live in terrifying times. My uncle was killed by a coachwhip when he thought he was going to the rescue of my three year old niece.

The King cobra rumors were a lot of hogwash. Anybody who knows anything about the species knows that the cobras that managed to establish themselves in Florida were eradicated by the death-stalker scorpions introduced there by the Florida Department of Natural Resources for just that purpose. Ultimately that plan backfired when the death stalker scorps started crossing with the local hummingbirds, quickly spreading northward from Florida into the Appalachian Mountains, becoming major pests there and rapidly extending their territory westward. The only hope is that their only predator, the nocturnal piranha-bat, will keep their numbers in check.
Piranha-bats first appeared when a irresponsible aquarium enthusiast/spelunker  released his tank of fingerling piranhas into a subterranean stream in Carlsbad Caverns. Thru methods not yet fully understood by biologists, these fish hybridized with the cave's massive bat population. They are murder on all types of avian scorpions, but unfortunately can fly down and strip a cow down to the bones in 30 seconds. The impact on the cattle industry was not without consequences. If you ever wondered why Big Macs are no longer 99 cents, you now know the reason.
As a side note, McDonalds has so far had no success with their McPiranha-Bat sandwich during their limited test-marketing in their bid to replace the Big Mac on their 99 cent menu while helping to lower the piranha-bat population.


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## the toe cutter (Apr 14, 2010)

If only the piranha-bat sandwich would have been prepared like the old McRib sandwich, it would have been a smashing success!


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## Faing (Apr 19, 2010)

Rockstarpets said:


> That is hilarious, haven't heard of that one in the West here.  However, being a retail store, I get this crap ALL the time!  Let me re-run some of my favorites:
> 
> Every home in Utah has Brown Recluse and if you find one it is reason for SHEER PANIC!!!  (and the spraying of mass pesticides that is more likely to harm your family than the spider).
> 
> ...


Where I live someone released a red tail boa not too long ago (around here it would have died over the winter but still). You get this call going "This snake is at least 12 ft long!" It was more around 6 ft maybe. 

and yeah, because everybody knows that running slows down the spread of the effects of venom to the body. Just another of my 2 cents of pure sarcasm. It's a different story for those who are ignorant of a situation and willing to learn something new though...


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## skilletsteve (Apr 20, 2010)

I bet this myth comes from this snake







It is a type of nerodia, common name is "diamond back water snake"

it isn't venomous, but it does look somewhat like a rattle snake with no rattle that lives in the water. Probably wont get much bigger than 5ft or so either.


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## pitbulllady (Apr 20, 2010)

skilletsteve said:


> I bet this myth comes from this snake
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It most likely does stem from the various species of _Nerodia_ that we have, even though we don't have _Nerodia rhombifer_ in SC.  Those are found much further west.  To ME, someone who actually breeds Water Snakes in captivity, these don't look ANYTHING like a Rattler, especially not the two Rattlers we have, the Canebrake(_Crotalus horridus atricaudatus)_ and the Eastern Pygmy_(Sistrurus miliarus)_, and a Rat Snake looks even less like one.  The guy swore that this snake he caught had "diamond" markings(which our Rattlers DO NOT have), but then, to the average ignoramus, ALL snakes have "diamond" markings, even a striped Garter!  He also swore it had "slanty" eyes, whatever the heck THAT means.  Rat Snakes have a very distinct look to them, no matter what the species, even among those found on other continents, and I don't see how one can be mistaken for a venomous snake. 

pitbulllady


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## SixShot666 (Apr 20, 2010)

Great story!!! Especially the part where you reached into the bag and pulled out a harmless black rat snake. :clap::clap::clap:


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## loxoscelesfear (Apr 21, 2010)

I'll never get used to Pantherophis.  Will always be Elaphe in my mind.  No rattlers where I live, but the rat snakes, racers, and kings buzzing their tails will always have people swearing on their lives that they do occur here.


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## AudreyElizabeth (Apr 21, 2010)

Tim Benzedrine said:


> We live in terrifying times. My uncle was killed by a coachwhip when he thought he was going to the rescue of my three year old niece.
> 
> The King cobra rumors were a lot of hogwash. Anybody who knows anything about the species knows that the cobras that managed to establish themselves in Florida were eradicated by the death-stalker scorpions introduced there by the Florida Department of Natural Resources for just that purpose. Ultimately that plan backfired when the death stalker scorps started crossing with the local hummingbirds, quickly spreading northward from Florida into the Appalachian Mountains, becoming major pests there and rapidly extending their territory westward. The only hope is that their only predator, the nocturnal piranha-bat, will keep their numbers in check.
> Piranha-bats first appeared when a irresponsible aquarium enthusiast/spelunker  released his tank of fingerling piranhas into a subterranean stream in Carlsbad Caverns. Thru methods not yet fully understood by biologists, these fish hybridized with the cave's massive bat population. They are murder on all types of avian scorpions, but unfortunately can fly down and strip a cow down to the bones in 30 seconds. The impact on the cattle industry was not without consequences. If you ever wondered why Big Macs are no longer 99 cents, you now know the reason.
> As a side note, McDonalds has so far had no success with their McPiranha-Bat sandwich during their limited test-marketing in their bid to replace the Big Mac on their 99 cent menu while helping to lower the piranha-bat population.


Hilarious!  
That particular episode of MonsterQuest made me want to :barf:. I sent a nice email to the History Channel explaining this, but apparently they didn't care enough to respond. Oh well, it made _me_ feel better anyway.  I've also heard the myth 'round these here parts about the snake rolling around in a ring to chase you. I can't fathom why people believe such nonsense!


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## Howlinwolf89 (Jun 16, 2021)

Beardo said:


> LOL....great story.
> 
> A few years ago when I worked at Petsmart, an old lady came into the store carrying a gallon bucket, claiming to have caught a "Horny Toad"...."biggest 'un she'd ever seened!"....turns out it was an adult Bearded Dragon that must've escaped from a neighbor's place or something, lol.


Horned Toads are real . There used to be alot of them here in the Texas Panhandle but now they are a endangered species . As kids we used to claim they would spit at you but of coarse a myth . Now when we mow weeds we will walk it first and make sure one doesnt get killed . Its a horned lizard but for some reason it has always been called a horny toad long before i was born . Its illegal to have one as its a protected species !


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