A Palm Bay woman and her family are a little more cautious outside their home today after finding a large eastern diamondback rattlesnake coiled up in their driveway.
“I never heard that before, that rattling, that hissing,” said Deborah Hepburn, a Miami-transplant who recently moved to Remington Green Drive in southeast Palm Bay.
“It just kept rattling and I just respected its space,” she said.
Hepburn had just pulled into her driveway about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday when her mother-in-law in the car behind her suddenly yelled for her to back up, Hepburn said.
“I backed up and there it was, right in the driveway. I could have been hurt but I’m very blessed. We just called 9-1-1 and the police came right over,” said Hepburn, who told dispatchers the snake was “too big to kill.”
Palm Bay police arrived and called Brevard County Animal Services to retrieve the snake.
Hepburn, her mother-in-law and a number of neighbors waited at a distance as a Brevard County Animal Services agent arrived to remove the venomous, four-and-a-half foot long eastern diamondback from the yard.
The snake was taken to an area of public lands near the Brevard-Osceola county line.
“It was big,” said Capt. Bob Brown, spokesman for Brevard County Animal Services, of the snake.
“The snake had been displaced by some nearby development.”
Eastern diamondbacks are considered one of the most dangerous snakes in North America. Their habitat includes an area from North Carolina to the Florida
Keys.
The rattle heard by Hepburn and others was a strong warning that the snake was feeling threatened, officials said.
“He was sending signals that he would defend himself. He’s saying I’m going to hurt you if you keep messing around,” Brown said.
Hepburn said the episode left her more aware of her surroundings but not fearful.
“I’ve lived here for nearly a year. A snake won’t run me away,” Hepburn said.
“I’ll just be more cautious.”