Wow I would have guessed 2 feet rather than 8 inches LOL. Yeah, with all the mud on it and being so young it really is hard for me to tell if it is a rattler. I only have experience with the ones around Colorado, and unfortunately, larger ones. The body does seem fatter for its size, which might cause one to lean more towards a rattler based on these photos, but the shape of the head and eyes don't seem like the ones around here in my area. Doesn't really matter at this point: since it's a carcass.

For rattlers around here, I am told that if you can't distinguish by other features, if the tail comes to a pointed tip and there is no rattle, it isn't a rattler. If a rattler loses its rattles, it will have a rounded/fat/blunt end of its tail versus a pronounced tip.

The young ones possess especially nasty, toxic venom. I think it gets diluted somehow as their poison glands grow, so it's more concentrated when they are young.