For those who may first encounter a rattlesnake there is an old saying 'they don't die till sundown'. I never heard that before but I killed a rattlesnake in Southern OR, a few years ago. A lucky throw, but I cut it's head off all but a thread of skin with a rock at about 8 feet. Well I picked the thing up and it was obviously dead. I hung it in a tree next to where we were camped by a creek and basically didn't pay any attention to it until if fell out of the tree. While it had been hanging there it had completely bled out. Well I picked it up and put it back into the tree and a little bit later it fell out again. This time I noticed it was kind of moving like a reflexive movement. I hung it back into the tree and as it hanged there with it's head attached by a tiny piece of skin, I picked up a axe and touched the nose of the snake, it actually bite the axe blade. Made me jump and reconsider it's hanging there. Well I finished the original coup and cut off it's head and threw it into the creek. Put it back into the tree and after a bit it fell back out. This time I rolled the snake onto it's back, it immediately rolled over and started to move away , just like it was alive. I put it on it's back again and it rolled over and started crawling away. Unbelievable. So I then put it into the creek, about 56 degree's F and put a rock on it. A couple of hours later and probably 4 hours after it's head was cut off it was time to skin it. At that point it took 2 of us to hold it still to skin it. After it was skinned the white skinless snake would still turn over from being placed on it's back and try to crawl away. At that point enough was enough I pitched it into the creek for the crawdads dinner. Never would have believed it if I hadn't see it, 'they don't die till sundown'. That snake could have bite you a long time after it's head was cut off. Belive it or Not.