lmao @ patented snake cry
heard this cry this last weekend from one of my friends wives. too funny.
ive been hissed at just this last weekend by this guy.
he was just shy of 4' long. he hissed a few times but stopped completely after i picked him up. bull snakes will be considerably louder, be more aggressive, and strike more the older they get. ive caught many bull snakes right at the 6' mark. even at 6' though, none of them were anywhere near thick as my arm. the thickness would lead me to believe it was a diamondback, but im not sure if they hiss as ive never crossed paths with one. all we have here are prairie rattlers and ive only seen 3-4 out and about, but none of them hissed...and i screwed with all of them. so if they were going to hiss, they would have, lol.
rattlers get thick, and bullsnakes are usually only fat when they eat something big. when thats the case, they will be extra aggressive when they are that lothargic and need to put on a good front cause they wont be able to flee as easily. so it is possible that it was a bullsnake with a full belly. rattlesnakes arent known for slithering away all that quickly. they usually stand thier ground as they have a pretty good defence.
bullsnakes also shake thier tail to mimmic a rattler. will only work if they are in dry leaves or something similar though.
honestly, my guess is a bullsnake with a full belly. they have terrible eyesight and will strike if they think they are cornered. which being under a rock could cause. plus your wife and both dogs walking by could have been just enough action to rile it up and finally strike when you walked by. when you jumped forward, it saw its chance to get away and did so.