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Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake [Crotalus adamanteus] |
| This very large specimen was encountered in the roadside swale along the south side of Heckscher Drive in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida on 6/28/2017. At the time of the encounter this reporter was searching for terrestrial mollusks in the swale when a strange noise was heard. Turning around to investigate the noise, the serpent was found to be only feet away busily rattling and in a striking pose similar to that shown in the image below which was captured seconds after a hasty retreat was executed. The snake eventually slightly retreated underneath the palmettos, but despite prompting with a long handled rake, it demonstrated no inclination to retreat further but continued rattling and maintaining a strike position. Further prompting with the rake failed to elicit a strike. The serpent demonstrated no fear of man. This is not a common species and is only the second specimen ever seen by this reporter in over twenty years of molluscan field surveys. |
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![Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake [Crotalus adamanteus]](62853.jpg)
