Alva Review-Courier -

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Just because you invite a rattlesnake to enjoy the warmth of your living room, that doesn't mean it won't try to bite you, especially if it's a big, tough western diamondback as pugnacious as one nicknamed "Samson."

"When we were trying to catch him, we were calling him Goliath, Samson, King Kong; we had all kinds of names, anything big and strong," said Tim Fitzer, a lifelong snake hunter and former cast member of the Discovery Channel show "Venom Hunters."

Hunting with William Towry and son Silas, 12, of Coweta on his first-ever snake hunt, and Brandon Dorris of Haskell in an undisclosed location in McIntosh County the crew caught the snake that Fitzer said is one of the five largest he's laid hands on and by far the strongest, the Tulsa World reported.

It's not easy to measure a snake of this size, but this one is easily 6 feet long, quite likely a few inches more, and as big around in the middle as a strong man's forearm. A rough weight on the snake — using an angler's scale with the snake inside a wooden crate — put it just under 9 pounds.

While western Oklahoma is best known for its rattlesnake festivals, the venomous vipers can be found statewide, from the prairies to rocky, forested ridges.

With colder than normal temperatures this March, snakes were later coming out of their hibernation, but they are out now — as are the snake hunters who are especially interested in rattlesnakes. Western diamondbacks are common in Oklahoma, and most are 3 to 5 feet long, Fitzer said. Some grow to 6 feet, and the rare specimen every snake hunter dreams about is a 7-footer.

William Towry spotted a portion of a snake recently outside a narrow gap in a rocky ledge and knew it was big, but he said had no idea just how big. He hooked the snake with catcher's tongs, which were no match for the power of the big rattler.

"Man, that snake without a doubt was way stronger than I ever expected," he said. "I had no idea it was that big. I just thought I'd pull him out, but he had his head in under that rock and a couple of jerks and, man, I thought he was gone forever."

The snake disappeared under the ledge, but the hunters used strong flashlights to learn it had only a small area to hide, a 40-minute battle ensued as the snake hunters retrieved a shovel from their truck to clear away rocks and roots. At one point they thought they'd found a second snake but soon realized it was two ends of the same long rattler.

The Towrys are used to outdoor adventure. They have beagles and hunt rabbits with them and also have hunted feral hogs with nothing more than good hog dogs and sharp knives.

"We've caught snakes before, but it was my son's first time out actually hunting for snakes, so it was pretty exciting for him," Towry said. "Work was a little slow, and it was spring break for him, so we decided, 'let's go snake hunting,' and it was a great experience."

Towry went to work with a shovel, digging and moving rocks, and Fitzer finally got a hand on the snake's tail, refused to let go, and eventually won a battle of wills.

"It's the biggest snake I've ever caught with a bare hand," Fitzer said. "You can see on the video when we finally pull him out, he lays out straight. He was worn out, but that's the only time he's been stretched out."

The tough battle on the hill and dropping temperatures outside over the weekend is why Fitzer brought the snake into his living room for a couple of days.

"He had the toughest day of his life the other day, and he needed a break, so I brought him in here where it's warmer to stay before he gets goes out into the big tank with the other snakes," he said.

Fitzer will milk venom from the snake and send it off to researchers. It will live for the summer months with other snakes in a large tank outside Fitzer's cabin. In the fall it will be released back into the wild at one of his favorite snake locations — but not where it came from.

"They don't want any more snakes in there," he said. "He'll have a new home."

Fitzer lifted the snake from its box inside his home and it curled at the end of his handler's hook, as if it could make a defensive strike from an impossible midair perch. Later, it showed it could do just that.

"That's why I think I've decided on calling him Samson. He's just so strong; I've never seen a western diamondback with this kind of power and strength. Just look at him. You can learn things handling a snake like this," Fitzer said. "Normally a snake this size, they'll stretch out more. They're just so long and heavy they have a hard time holding themselves up like he does."

The longtime handler marveled at the snake's ability to pinch its body against the hook and use any surface to find leverage and push one part of its body up and out.

"This is an incredibly strong snake; he's just one solid muscle," he said.

For size comparison, Fitzer, who is also a taxidermist, pulled out an old mount of a rattlesnake that was measured 5 1/2 feet long. He put the mount on the floor what seemed reasonable distance from the resting live rattler, but the big snake showed its length at that moment, launched and hit the mounted snake just inches to the side from Fitzer's hand.

"Holy smokes!" Fitzer said.

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com