Crotalus horridus. That's what a scientist likes to call the timber rattlesnake.

For Butch Ryder and Gerald Stutts the 5-foot rattler they found in Richmond County near Pekin was simply called "pretty big."

They also discovered the snake is considered an endangered species in North Carolina.

Ryder, of Whispering Pines, and Stutts, of Ellerbe, were returning from a fishing trip when they came up on the snake while driving down an old dirt road.

The cousins caught the snake and put it in a cooler. They showed it to a North Carolina Wildlife officer, and he told them to put the snake back where they found it.

Ryder said the state likes to be told where the snakes are seen so they can keep a count of the snakes and where they were found.

"He told us to put the snake back where we found it," Ryder said. "So we put him back where we found him. We figured he knew where he was going. We took a lot of photos, but we couldn't get him to smile for the camera."