Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus
CLASS: Reptilia
ORDER: Squamata
SUBORDER: Sepentes
FAMILY: Viperidae
SIZE:
Up to 96 inches in length
RANGE:
North America; Coastal lowlands from southeast North Carolina to extreme east Louisiana and all of Florida
HABITAT:
Palmetto flatwoods and dry pinelands of the South
DIET:
Wild - Rodents and birds
Zoo - Mice and rats
DESCRIPTION:
Very long, heavy bodied, gray brown or olive green with a pattern of brown diamond-shaped blotches; dark line from the eye to the angle of the jaw; a deep pit in the side of the head between the eye and the nostril; rattle on tip of tail; anal plate undivided.
FACTS:
Most potent venom of any pit viper found in Louisiana; very large size; aggressive; coloration provides good camouflage.
Eastern diamond-backed rattlesnakes and canebrake rattlesnakes are in the same genus.
YOUNG:
No reproductive data available on the Louisiana species, but elsewhere live young born numbering 7-21.
STATUS:
Locally protected; extirpated in Louisiana
REFERENCES:
"The Amphibians and Reptiles of Louisiana", Harold A. Dundee and Douglas A. Rossman
"Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia", Vol. 6 Reptiles, Dr. Bernhard Grzimek
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