If this doesn’t get your attention about snakes slithering around in the spring and summer, nothing will. Rob Freeman was in his backyard with his wife and son in Cheatham County when they were shocked to see a what he called a “very large” timber rattlesnake. The snake was 6.5 feet long and had just devoured a squirrel. When Freeman saw the snake, he decided he had to kill it. But first, he called the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, where an agent told him it was okay to kill it. Timber rattlesnakes are endangered across the United States. In Tennessee, it is illegal to harm or remove them from the wild without the proper permits, unless the snake presents a threat to you, your family or your animals. If it does pose a threat, then you may kill it. Timber rattlesnakes live all over Tennessee, are most active from mid-March to mid-October, and tend to eat small animals like rodents.