BARTOW, Fla. (WFLA) — They went out to do a little bird watching, but Cathy and Lloyd Terry wound up having a close encounter with a very venomous reptile on a two-lane road in Bartow.

“It was amazing to see it. I have never seen a snake in the wild that big and it was mesmerizing to see it,” said Lloyd, who was driving the truck when he and his wife pulled over on the side of the road to check out some birds.

But, before the married couple could get out of the car, a massive diamondback rattlesnake slithered across the highway in front of their car.

“Width-wise I thought It could have eaten an entire horse. Frankly, I mean it was just huge,” Cathy said.

“It looked like it didn’t need to eat for several more months,” she added

The Terrys say the rattlesnake took up more the whole lane they were in and all of the next lane. They believe it could have been up to 9-feet-long. Before it crawled out of sight back into the woods, Cathy managed to snap a couple of pictures.

“My first instinct, because I love photography, is get the camera. Get the picture. Get the shot and I was able to get three pictures of it before it was off into the tall grass and into the bushes,” said Cathy clutching her camera in her hands.

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