-- You've heard the proverbial tale about beheaded chickens running around as if nothing happened, but you've probably never seen a decapitated snake head bite its still thrashing body.

Copperhead snake (Wikimedia Commons)

Huntsville resident Sam Billiter posted a public video on his Facebook Monday afternoon with the caption "

(after I decapitated it) very crazy watch it!!!"

Billiter went hunting for the snake in his woodpile after his wife saw it a couple days ago, he said.

Billiter said he did not want his 4-year-old son or dog to get bitten.

"As soon as I looked it up and saw it was a copperhead, there was no choice," he said. "It had to die."

[ UPDATE: Authorities say it's best to leave snakes alone ]

It took four or five blows with a machete to decapitate the three-foot snake, Billiter said.

"I wanted to take a video of its body moving without its head and within a couple of seconds it bit itself," Billiter said. "That's some crazy stuff right there."

It is crazy. Check it out below.

Updated at 10:18 a.m. to include comments from Sam Billiter.