The Flickr Easterndiamondbackedrattlesnake Image Generatr

Levy County, Florida - Winter 2024

Dixie County, FL - Spring 2024

Georgia - Winter 2024

Georgia - Winter 2024

Southeast - Winter 2023

Gilchrist County, Florida - Fall 2023

Gilchrist County, Florida - Summer 2023

Photo: Bill Love

Photo: Daniel Parker

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) from Florida. I found this snake in this Tomahawk trap while working on an invasive species research project. I find this capture very interesting, as the cage was simply baited with a chicken egg - not typical prey for an EDB (though, also not consumed by the animal). Of course, this animal was released unharmed.

I am sad that I have neglected my account here, but sadder that it coincides with the lack of activity my camera's shutter has been afforded since taking on a new job. I hope to keep folks entertained in the coming months with a seasonal shift in my job's focus. I desperately miss focusing on diamondback ecology and conservation, and I miss the Carolinas even more desperately.

Crotalus adamanteus from South Carolina. This is my bittersweet farewell, uploaded as I finish work in South Carolina to begin new work in Florida. It has been my pleasure to work on the many reptiles and amphibians of South Carolina, and I hope it is not long before I can return. I have been extremely busy with this project over the past year, which is why I have uploaded so little. Well, there's also the fact that I have very little internet access.

This individual is a large male, just under 5 feet total length, as he sits at the edge of a burned pocosin. We suspected it for years, and this year have confirmed use of pocosin habitats by EDBs (and...could you guess it...pine snakes, too!). Pocosins are incredibly thick, shrubby habitats that are no fun to traverse! If there's one thing I won't miss about this job, it will be trying to track animals in pocosins.

Crotalus adamanteus from South Carolina. This is a species with which I've spent the vast majority of my time researching for the past 8.5 years. They're impressive snakes that do not get the attention they deserve. Their size demands respect, yet their populations are suffering throughout much of their range. Their complex life history adds to the challenge of habitat destruction that they've faced for decades. They're an indicator of ecological integrity, which is important in the time of the marginalization of the longleaf pine forests that serve as their home throughout the vast majority of their range.

FLORIDA: Wakulla County

FLORIDA: Wakulla County

Suwannee Lake
Suwannee County, Florida

Rob w/ a 5ft+ EDB