Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus

St. Joseph's Peninsula, Florida. September 2002.

A member of the Pit Viper family, the Eastern Diamondback is one of America's most feared venomous snakes. Adults can grow to 5ft in length, and are ovoviparous, meaning the young are born from the mother, whose eggs hatch inside her; the babies have poisonous venom from birth. A rattlesnake can strike in 1/1000th. of a second from almost any position.