Front cover for Boss Snakes, a book compiling giant snake stories
Boss Snakes: Stories and Sightings of Giant Snakes in North America
Chad Arment
ISBN 1-930585-44-6
Retail $19.95 (USD)

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Boss Snakes collects and compiles stories of oversized serpents from across North America. Some are tall tales, newspaper hoaxes, pranks, misidentifications, exaggerations, or exotic introductions. Some suggest that historically, at least, several native species reached larger maximum lengths. A few might just point to something new, whether a population-level variation or even a new species. State-by-state accounts are given for giant "typical" snakes and for giant rattlesnakes.

Back cover for Boss Snakes

Sample Maps: The first shows distribution of alleged "typical" giant snake sightings, and the second shows distribution of giant rattlesnake sightings.

Floridians Report Big Snake

Miami, Fla., (U.P)—Two Miamians came in from the Everglades recently with a report they had seen a huge snake, at least 15 feet long, 10 inches in diameter, which looked like a log lying across the road. Experts believed it was a Gopher snake, but the discoverers temporarily called it "Glade Snake."

Hayward, California, Daily Review
July 13, 1931

The inhabitants of Snow Creek township, near Bakersville, N.C., are terribly alarmed at the appearance of a monster snake which has been seen by several gentlemen, reliable of course, and is pronounced to be a huge specimen, about 15 feet long, two feet around the body, a head about six inches across. It is reported to be traversing the country, mounting right over tops of fences, and showing fight to all who come in its way, and has the neighborhood scared up wonderfully to such an extent that they are afraid to leave their homes. A reward of $100 alive or $50 dead has been offered for it, and a company of men raised to make an attack on his snakeship.

Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Daily Sentinel
October 16, 1877

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