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Report
Received From: The GCBRO Online Report
Submission Form.
Report
Posted To GCBRO Web Site On:
April 1, 2007
DATE:
mid 1980s
TIME:
N/A
LOCATION:
Miami Kansas near Hillsdale Kansas
TERRAIN:
Wooded
OBSERVED:
This happened in the mid 1980s in Miami KS near Hillsdale KS. Farm
property were this happened around a quarter mile from the lake.
I don't remember the year, but don't believe I was yet in high school at
the time. The snake was crossing the road in front of
our car. The two parcels of land on both sides were owned by my family.
The area was wooded. Probably around 500 ACRES of timber. In
this are there was a ravine with a creek running below the road.
Creek ran towards the lake into what used to be BULL CREEK before the lake
filled the area for the reservoir. The snake crossing over
the top the rd near the creek. There were hay bail storage
areas were my grandparents stored hay year around up to maybe 100-150 bales
and have always thought the area was likely a good place for rodents and
snakes. At the time my parents considered running over it in their
car, but I pleaded with them and actually it was really big to hit.
I distinctly remember it took up both sides of the road with the head on
one side and the tail on the other. My parents stopped the car and
I jumped out. At that time I was a very avid hunter of snakes and
had around 4 pet snakes at that time including a King Snake, Milk Snake,
Garter, and Ring Neck. I remember thinking wow this snake was
as large as a huge Boa and was so excited I jumped out of the car and ran
after it. I came up beside it standing in a ditch beside the road
just as its head entered the tree line. At that point its tail was
still up on the road. I watched helplessly as the treeline
devoured the snake within five to ten seconds. It moved swiftly
and its girth was so wide I doubted I could grip both hands around its
body. I was impressed by how wide its body and remember hearing twigs
break as it slithered into the tree line. Having caught tons
of snakes before up to 4 ft in length and having no fear I was really motivated
to try and grab and wrestle it, but was worried about the head coming around
to bite me. Its head was way larger than any snake I had managed.
It was simply too large that I could not manage the snake alone so I was
really torn not to try and wrestle it. At the time I expected
the snake to have been probably longer than 10 ft. and never new what record
size was expecting that the snakes get really long. About a
year ago I asked a park official and he told me the largest sized black
snake on record was 8 ft in length. So I guessed the snake I must
have seen 15 years earlier was probably over 8 ft, but perhaps not much
larger so posted a VERY conservative report on another cryptid web site
that defied my memory. After conversing with someone
who had taken interest in the report they convinced me to go back and measure
the road with a tape measure. I was surprised to find the road was
over 18 ft wide in the area were the snake had passed. In order
for two cars to pass each other there needs to be around this much width
to my surprise so the length had to have been much longer than my conservative
estimate and larger than the record. When I returned to the area
and pictured the snake I realized it was absolutely huge.
The road was gravel so there is a chance it could have widened due to grating,
however I am quite certain the snake was now 15-18ft as that much distance
is needed for two cars to pass comfortably. Inspired
by this and a bit perplexed as I knew the largest snake on record is 8
ft. I started doing research on line looking for reports of large black
snakes and was surprised to find very old reports of black snakes the width
of stove pipes in the Smoky Mountains. Some reports up to 30 ft in length.
I found a report of a large black snake or black eel from the 50s known
as SINK HOLE SAM reported at 15 ft in length, which stirred up media reports.
I also found reports of other large black snake sightings as far north
as South Dakota and far South as Arkansas seeming to average between 15
and 30 ft in length. My investigation into this subject has
lead me to believe either black (RAT) snakes grow as long as they live
and that although the natural life expectancy may be a certain age they
may have the ability to live much longer and thus growing longer.
My second and more likely conclusion is that there maybe a rare species
of black snake undocumented in North America such as THE GIANT BLACK SNAKE
I furthermore draw the conclusion that most of the snakes may not be living
to maturity and dying off before reaching a large size and therefore go
unreported when sighted as people would pass them off as common black snakes.
Secondly, the majority of sightings are probably reported by farmers and
people who would not report the sighting if they saw an unusually large
snake. Some would probably behave as I did assuming the snake
was large, but not knowing the magnitude of their observation.
Activities
of Witness: N/A
Description
of Creature: N/A
Other
Notes: N/A
Other
(Informational or Encounter History in the General Area) Notes:
N/A
Additional
Notes and or Follow up Comments:
N/A
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