We have a Western Diamondback rattler on display at my job. It is around 5' and has a really nasty temper. It will strike at anything that moves pretty much. We have a 6' grabber to handle it, and the boss actually let me put it back in the cage after cleaning one time. It felt amazing handling such a dangerous animal. I think I was shaking for 30 minutes after that.

It did bite itself pretty bad, it was bleeding but it fine. It just turned its head a little after I picked it up and latched onto itself.