SNAKE EYES

(Cerastes gasperetti) Gasperetti’s horned desert viper,  Arabian horned viper, Middle Eastern horned viper

(Crotalus adamanteus) ~ Eastern diamondback rattlesnake

This is the largest rattlesnake species and is the heaviest known specimen, measuring 7.8 ft (2.4 m) in length and weighing 15.4 kg (34 lb), which was shot in 1946. Maximum reported lengths are 8 ft (2.4 m) and 8.25 ft (2.5 m). However, the stated maximum sizes have been called into question due to a lack of voucher specimens.

Specimens over 7 ft (2.1 m) are rare, but well-documented. Klauber (1998) included a letter he received from E. Ross Allen in 1953, in which Allen explains how for years he offered a reward of $100, and later $200, for an 8-ft specimen, dead or alive. The reward was never claimed. He did receive a number of 7-ft specimens and some 8-ft skins, but said such skins can be taken from a 6-ft snake. A 7.3-ft specimen was caught and killed outside a neighborhood in St. Augustine, Florida in September 2009.

(Trimeresurus popeorum) Pope’s pit viper 

Northern India, Burma, Thailand, West Malaysia and Vietnam. In Indonesia, it occurs on the islands of Sumatra, Mentawai Islands (Siberut, Sipora, North Pagai) and Borneo. The type locality, designated by lectotype, is listed as “Khasi Hills,Assam” (India).