Man kills rattlesnake at beach resort

HILTON HEAD, S.C., June 22 (UPI) -- A visitor to a South Carolina barrier island resort used the handle of a crab net to kill a 5-foot-long rattlesnake he spotted swimming in a saltwater creek.

Lonnie Deal of Statesville, N.C., told the Island Packet of Hilton Head that he is comfortable around snakes and collected them as a boy.

"I really felt bad about killing it, but the way it was going, it was headed right toward a man and wife and three kids," he said.

The snake, which had six buttons in its rattle -- an indication of how many times it has shed its skin -- was an eastern diamondback, the largest species of rattlesnake. They were once so common in the Hilton Head area that hunters wore knee-high boots for protection.

Naturalist David Jones said diamondbacks love the saltwater area because they find plenty of food -- marsh rabbits. He said spotting one in the heavily developed Hilton Head area shows its adaptability.

Deal said he plans to have the snake stuffed and mounted.