My stepson passed this along to me , I  know he doesn't tell tall tales or any for that matter, He was told by a DNR person around the 4th of July  weekend that they, DNR, have found 4 cases of Black Snakes interbred with Timber Rattlers  in the Jackson State Forestry Area and that they are like 4 times more poisonous  than a normal Timber Rattler.  I believe he was told this ...I am have a hard time believing the story, seems to be to many 4's if nothing else ...Has  anyone else talked to the DNR  snake expert?

I'm not an expert but I know a lot about reptiles. And if DNR said it they're full of orap (or investigating a possibility) its an impossiility physiologically speaking). Some blacksnakes occassionally can display some of the traits and identifiers commonly associated with a timber rattle snakes however they are just pattern variations. Theyre too far apart genetically to interbreed, as well as the physiological problems.... some of the parts dont match up that are requried to breed. Or atleast this is to the best of my knowledge.

However some sub-species of rattlesnakes have been known to interbreed.

Anybody remember the "Big Cat" stories from around Ft. Wayne/Decatur area? Where the area DNR officer commented on some of the home video shot, he said, "you can tell by the size of the cat and the way it runs that it is just a bobcat which are rare in the area but they are native. It's nothing to worry about." Then they had the Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo guy comment and he pointed out a lot more things and said, "You can see by the stature and length of tail that this is no ordinary cat, this is most definitely a panther type cat." The DNR lied and played stupid for several months, then soon, one of the cats was shot while trying to take down a small cow. They called the sheriff and within an hour the DNR showed up, walked right to where it was (tracking collar/chip) and put it in a bag and took away. Never heard anything from them, no news story or anything. About 1 month later, same thing happened, and finally the DNR came out with the truth that they were purposely released there to control deer populations. Moral of the story is, DNR is full of shit and they're just feeding the public a line of crap to keep their work under cover. I have nothing wrong with them releasing once native (yes big cats used to be native here) animals here to do such things, but they need to tell people about it, let them know they're nearly harmless etc. My brother's friend lost a dog to what they suspect was one of the cats, and my friend had a dog badly injured. After the first dog was killed they took meat scraps and put them out in front of a game camera and caught a really good picture of the cat. It was huge, and midnight black, you could barely make out its outline. If they're going to be reintroducing animals like that we need to know about it.

Sorry for the thread drift, but I don't believe a word the DNR says.

All I have to say is if the DNR is releasing dangerous animals into the wild and those animals kill someone's child, heads should roll.

Not sure about the snake thing, but it took 10yrs before the 1st person was bit by a Timber rattler here in Indiana for the DNR to fess' up to the fact that they reintroduced them here. It is true they are releasing cougars in this state as well. All have tracking devices in them. I know a guy personally who tracked one in my area. Over at the Jefferson Proving grounds (inside) Timber wolves were released. Someone had killed one mistaking it was a large coyote and caught some verbal heat on the scene. When asked why it wasn't announced why they are here, the carcass was loaded up and hauled away and the guy never got another visit or explanation. This is our typical govt. sneaking around. It will never change, unless someone dies from it and sues them into eternity. And, even then it might not change.

All of this would be news to me.  Anyway to research this other than some guy said?  I'm sure there are cougers around but I'm not sure the DNR could pull off something so clandestine.

 Can you see the headline?

IDNR Releases Man-Killer Predators into Hoosier Forests

Gov. Daniels Kept in Dark on Plan

mmmmmmmmmmkay......

I used to keep Rattlesnakes for a hobby years ago.... Timber rattlers (crotalus horridus) don't breed outside their species. Someone may have come across a more southern variation of it known as the canebrake rattler, the canebrake's color is very dark for the first 1/3 of it's body before settling in to the usual color pattern. DNR guy is talking outside his education. Venemous snakes and NON-venemous snakes DO NOT INTERBREED EVER.

Quoted: I used to keep Rattlesnakes for a hobby years ago.... Timber rattlers (crotalus horridus) don't breed outside their species. Someone may have come across a more southern variation of it known as the canebrake rattler, the canebrake's color is very dark for the first 1/3 of it's body before settling in to the usual color pattern. DNR guy is talking outside his education. Venemous snakes and NON-venemous snakes DO NOT INTERBREED EVER.

I thought the story had an smell, I also figured someone here would know the most likely truth, I had always heard A King snake would kill a Copperhead or Rattler not bred with one
TS