Gluttonous rattlesnake in Arizona becomes the butt of jokes. ‘Anyone missing a cat?’

One of Arizona’s western diamondback rattlesnakes is taking a merciless ribbing on social media after a photo showed it was rendered immobile by overeating.

Exactly what it ate remains a mystery, but it was clearly big.

A photo shared by Bryan Hughes, the owner of the Phoenix-based Rattlesnake Solutions, a rattlesnake removal service, shows the snake’s midsection was nearly triple its normal size.

The image was taken by Derek Carlson, a rattlesnake prevention specialist, who was summoned to remove the snake from the porch of a west Tuscon home.

“When I saw it, I laughed a bit at how large the bulge was,” Carlson told McClatchy News.

“I am always very careful when handling a snake that has recently eaten,” he added. “With too much stress they will regurgitate the meal, which I definitely wouldn’t want to happen.”

The diamondback was 3.5 feet long, which he called “a good size adult rattlesnake.” The average in Arizona is 3 to 5 feet.

“Fortunately, this one did not throw it up,” Carlson said.

Even he isn’t sure what the viper ate, which has been a hot topic on social media. He guesses maybe “a large pack rat or a rabbit.”

However, some speculate it was bigger than that, due to the meal putting the 3.5-foot-long snake “in a food coma.”

“Anyone missing a cat?” William D Smith posted on Facebook.

“Cat hell that’s a cow in there,” Corner Bob wrote.

“Probably the Easter bunny or a small child,” Kimmie Wolt joked.

Others wondered if the snake was pregnant, but Carlson says experience has taught Rattlesnake Solutions the difference between a baby bump and something a snake ate.

He took the rattlesnake to a nearby canyon, where it was released unharmed. It was freed just outside the entrance of a pack rat nest.

Technically, that might qualify as being dropped off at a rattlesnake restaurant.

This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 7:27 AM with the headline "Gluttonous rattlesnake in Arizona becomes the butt of jokes. ‘Anyone missing a cat?’."