- Angelo Owens was hanging out at his grandmother’s house when he came across the world’s deadliest snake
- Thinking it was a stuffed animal, he started to approach the animal, but soon realized it was a slithering rattlesnake.
- The reptile was then taken to a center where the venom was extracted to make antivenom
A Florida boy mistook one of the world’s deadliest snakes for a stuffed animal during a terrifying encounter in his grandmother’s backyard.
Angelo Owens was playing outside on Longwood’s field when he saw “something” in the corner.
The nine-year-old started walking to the corner to inspect it, but quickly realized it was a slithering rattlesnake.
“I thought it was a stuffed animal,” Angelo said.
The young boy ran into the house to tell an adult – a move he is now being praised for.
Angelo Owens was hanging out at his grandmother’s house in Longwood when he saw “something” in the corner
He started to get closer to the corner, but soon realized it was a slithering rattlesnake
When his family heard the snake hissing, they began to suspect that it was more sinister than other snakes they had seen before.
“(It was) scary, it made me shake for a while. Just a very loud hiss. You could hear it two to three houses away, it was loud,” said Alex Owens, Angelo’s father.
After further investigation, they discovered it was a deadly four-foot diamond rattlesnake.
Rattlesnakes are highly specialized, venomous reptiles and are one of the most iconic groups of North American snakes
Fortunately, no one was injured when it moved through the backyard, but Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation, who they called for help, was unable to help.
The family then turned to one of Central Florida’s most experienced critter catchers, Bob Cross.
Cross told WESH2: ‘He’s a happy boy. If he hadn’t been wise enough to go get mother – boys are boys – if he had tried to pick it up or get close to it, this would be a different story.”
The experienced catcher successfully picked up the snake and took it to a reptile center.
As soon as he saw the animal, the boy ran into the house to inform his family, who thought it was a harmless garden snake.
The typical lifespan of a rattlesnake is 10 to 25 years and they use a hunting technique called ambush predation to search for food
The reptile center collects the snake venom to make antivenom that can save lives.
Rattlesnakes are highly specialized, venomous reptiles and are one of the most iconic groups of North American snakes due to the characteristic ‘rattle’ at the tip of the tail.
They range in size from the one meter long ridge rattlesnake to the one and a half meter long eastern diamondback.
The typical lifespan of a rattlesnake is 10 to 25 years and they use a hunting technique called ambush predation to search for food.