Giant rattlesnake slithers across golf course

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Golfers paused their game when a large diamondback rattlesnake slithered across the 14th hole of a Florida golf course earlier this month.

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Logan Ungerer was playing a round with some friends at Mangrove Bay Golf Course Oct. 8 when the large reptile made its appearance on the back nine.

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"I saw what looked like a stick blowing in the wind on the green. As I got closer, I saw a bird picking at it and knew it was a snake," Ungerer told WTVT. "It was definitely exhilarating. It's not every day you see a huge rattlesnake on a green in Florida."

Diamondbacks, the largest venomous snakes in North America, can grow up to 8 feet, although it is unclear how long this one was.

Employees at the golf course told the Tampa Bay Times it is the largest rattlesnake they have seen there.

"I've played many courses and have stuck my hands into some pretty tall grasses or areas where one of these could have been," Ungerer, 28, told United Press International. "Seeing this massive snake has really made me realize that maybe when I hit the ball out of play, it's just gone."

Cox Media Group