Normally, they will not rattle their tail until they realize they have been seen. Most of the time, people walk right past diamondbacks without even noticing them. Their main method of defense is their ability to remain motionless and camouflage themselves around vegetation. However, eastern diamondbacks are not considered aggressive. There have been fatalities from eastern diamondback rattlesnake bites. Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes are large, venomous snakes that can deliver considerable amounts of venom. Pit vipers have cytotoxic venom, meaning the venom dismantles the molecular structure of the area to aid in digestion of the prey. They are able to to follow the path of the dying animal with their loreal pits and finally swallow the animal after it is found. They strike (bite) the animal with lightning speed and wait for the animal to die from envenomation. They are hide and ambush predators which means that they hide themselves and wait for small mammals such as rats, rabbits and birds to pass by. ![]() The word pit viper refers to the loreal pits on the side of head that enable to them to sense heat from their prey (small mammals and birds). They are in the Family Viperidae, which makes them pit vipers. They have been documented from Sanibel, Captiva, North Captiva, Cayo Costa and Gasparilla Island as well as the Keys. They occur on the mainland as well as barrier islands throughout Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. ![]() If one person witnesses a snake but does not provide any of the examples listed above, then it is considered an unconfirmed sighting.Įastern diamondback rattlesnakes (left) are large snakes (can reach over 5′ in length). ![]() For a snake to be documented, there must be a photograph, a DOR (Dead-on-road example), a preserved specimen, or a live example that more than one person can verify. There have been several unconfirmed sightings of dusky pygmy rattlesnakes and Florida cottonmouths on Sanibel. Historically, only two of these snake species have been documented on Sanibel and Captiva Islands (eastern diamondback rattlesnake, eastern coral snake). They consist of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus), dusky pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius barbouri), Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti) and the eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius fulvius). There are 4 venomous snakes found in Southwest Florida. No verified sightings of venomous snakes have been documented on Sanibel and Captiva Islands in recent years.
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