WESTERVILLE, Ohio — There’s a social media post that has people in Westerville talking. The post claims that the longest venomous snake in North America — the eastern diamondback snake — was found in central Ohio.
According to the Smithsonian National Zoo, the average length of the snake is 3 to 6 feet, but some can be as long as 8 feet.
The bite of an eastern diamond rattlesnake can be deadly to humans because the toxin in their venom, called hemotoxin, kills red blood cells and causes tissue damage. The good news is that human deaths from rattlesnake bites are rare because the antivenom is available throughout its range.
There’s more good news too: The post from the Westerville Facebook group is not real.
The same post with the same photos and wording has been going around social media for years from Michigan to Massachusetts.
Sarah Schott from the Ohio Division of Wildlife said the agency has not received reports of eastern diamondback rattlesnakes in Ohio. According to the National Zoo, the eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are found in the southeastern part of the United States.
There are, however, three species of venomous snakes found in Ohio: The eastern copperhead, massasauga and timber rattlesnake.
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