This three to four year old Diamondback had just emerged to recover some heat before nightfall after having been soaked by rain all day. It barely had the energy to engage its rattle at this point.

The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes in this protected Florida wilderness area are monitored by concealed wifi cameras and adult Diamondbacks are tracked by radio telemetry. Although the Eastern Diamondback is still not protected on a federal or state level, disturbing them on protected land is illegal. Expensive measures like these are unfortunately required to protect this species from ending up on the black market.