It was pretty active. It was first spotted halfway outside of it's hole. When I was taken to the area where it was spotted to decide on course of action, he was still halfway in his hole... head end out. I couldn't tell right away what kind of snake it was (I'm no Steve Irwin) until it slithered out of the whole and exposed it's rattler. It got a bit defensive when we spotted it the second time, rattling and focusing its attention at the few of us nearby.
I was as careful as I could be. Good thing there was some rebar laying around. This enabled me to strike it at a safe distance. Two good smacks on the head, then it was pinned down with the bar. I then ran my bayonet though the bottom of it's head out the top, and then severed the head. The head was buried just in case. Twas a bit scary. Glad no one got hurt, because someone could have been seriously injured.