Well, I was bored, so I googled the image and found this one, which is sharper.
<img src="http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/507948/rattler.jpg" width=274 height=450>
I sat and stared at this pic for a pretty long time, and my conclusion is that its a fake. Just below the "hook" you can see an obvious crop and paste. It also looks like the head could have been pasted on so that it would be proportional to the body. Look at these pictures.
<img src="http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/507948/rattler1.jpg" width=396 height=343>
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Notice that the while line on the left side of the snake ends where I drew the red line.
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<img src="http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/507948/rattler2.jpg" width=396 height=343>
Other things I noticed were:
1. Where the dirt/grass line in the bg meets the snake, there is a dent, which could be where an eraser was used to isolate the snake in the photo.
2. Looking at the last half of the snake, its awfully flat, as if its laying on the ground.
3. Kind of a stretch, but the rattle is vertical which means that it is rattling. The way it looks gives it the appearance that it is laying on the ground.
Edit: I also think the guy is pasted into the picture. His clothes, hair, and face look like they've been pasted into the background. If you look at it closely, you can see what I mean.
Anyways, that's the result of my boredom.
Oh yeah, photoshopping is easy!
<img src="http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/507948/rattlerboy.jpg" width=274 height=450>