A group of Texas hunters went out in search of deer, and instead found the makings of a horror movie under a deer blind with almost 30 rattlers coiled up and hanging out.
“Picked my deer blind up to rebuild it and killed 26 rattlesnakes and one that we weren’t sure what it was this morning at the lease,” Rusty Hopper said in Facebook post that has been shared more than 35,000 times.
The hunter tagged Craig Turner, Brett Turner and Chad Guthrie in the post from Matador – about 80 miles northeast of Lubbock. The nightmare scenario wasn’t their only surprise according to MySanAntonio: Hopper responded to the virality of his social media content in the comments attached to his post.
“Not what I intended,” he replied to a friend. “You can’t imagine the messages and stuff I’ve gotten from random people.”
Steve Lightfoot of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department previously told mySA.com rattlesnakes are secretive, shy and not usually aggressive creatures. Coiling up under objects like deer blinds is typical to their nature, because they prefer to stay out of open areas, he added.
Should a person have an encounter like Hopper’s, Lightfoot recommends refraining from sudden movement, allowing the snakes the opportunity to leave.
“Nine times out of 10, they’re going to try getting away,” he said. “They’re part of the landscape as well so it’s best to be educated and informed so you can be aware of your surroundings.”
This has been the year of the snakes with several viral stories recently from the attempted smooch with the cottonmouth to the viral den footage of a swarming den of angry, striking rattlers.
