Rattlesnakes In Trees 01

Rattlesnakes are ground dwellers and rarely observed in trees, except when basking, hunting prey such as birds and rodents or to escape from an elevated water level.

The Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes is Florida’s largest venomous snake. Its bite can be fatal to humans but urbanization has decimated the population so much that this snake is rarely encountered by humans today. This rattlesnake feed mostly on small mammals, birds and other reptiles including alligator hatchlings. They kill their prey with a venomous bite. All rattlesnakes possess a set of fangs with which they inject large quantities of hemotoxic venom. The venom travels through the bloodstream, destroying victim’s tissue and causing swelling, internal bleeding, and intense pain. This pit vipers are primarily active at night, but they bask in the sun during the day. The threat of envenomation, advertised with the shaking of the rattle, deters many predators. However, rattlesnakes fall prey to other predators such as hawks, weasels, king snakes, indigo snakes and many other species, including larger alligators. Florida’s Venomous Snakes - Eastern diamondback rattlesnake stalking was filmed by Heiko Kiera aka Ojatro in Florida in 2010. This stock footage is available at www.Ojatrovisuals.com.