Herpetofauna - One Life's List

Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
Crotalus adamanteus

Jasper Co., South Carolina. May 25, 1998
 

It was around 5 PM, and all of us were dozing in the Blazer except Ken behind the wheel.  We were still tired from the long drive to South Carolina, and were driving around near the Savannah River, scouting out the country.  Ken slammed on the brakes and I damned near concussed myself on the dashboard, because this beauty was crossing the two-lane road in front of us!  We managed to safely guide the rattler onto the shoulder while halting traffic behind us, and I'm sure the folks in those vehicles thought we were nuts!  We didn't care - this was our first adamanteus, and we spent quite a while taking photos and wrangling and simply admiring it. It was about a meter long,  it didn't rattle much and it would not coil, trying to crawl away instead.

What an afternoon to remember.

 
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