BROWN COUNTY, Ind. – A couple in Brown County had a close encounter with a huge rattlesnake over the weekend, and it was all caught on camera.
Clayton Fleener was enjoying a peaceful hike with his girlfriend Abigail Kerns last Saturday in Brown County State Park near Lake Ogle on Trail 9, when a massive snake stopped them in their tracks.
They said they were on full alert for snakes because they heard a report of a timber rattlesnake near Taylor’s Ridge. “We weren’t quite ready to see one quite that large though,” Fleener told FOX59.
Fleener said they knew right away it was a timber rattlesnake because of recent sightings. The DNR confirms that it is indeed a timber rattlesnake, and they are fairly common in the Brown County area.
The timber rattlesnake is considered an endangered species in Indiana, and it’s on the no-kill list.
“I’ve lived in Brown County all my life and have only seen a copper head in the park. This was definitely a rare sighting,” Fleener said.
Fleener says the sighting will not deter him and his girlfriend from going on hikes in the future.
