How to identify it
Largest rattlesnake, heavy-bodied, usually 1.0-1.5 m and sometimes over 2.4 m; males larger than females. [1][2]
Olive, brown or near-black with diamond-shaped outlines of tan-yellow scales around blackish-brown centres down the back; keeled scales. [1][2]
Large spade-shaped head, vertical pupils, pits between eye and nostril, and two light lines running from behind the eye to the back of the jaw. [1][2]
Rattle at the tail tip; hatchlings (about 0.3 m) closely resemble adults. [1][2]
Where it lives
Pine and wiregrass flatwoods, longleaf pine-turkey oak hills, scrub, coastal hammocks and barrier islands, dry prairie and abandoned fields, particularly with abundant cover; large tracts are most suitable; rarely climbs. [1][2]
How it behaves
Sit-and-wait ambush predator that coils in shade or underbrush; mostly diurnal but may be active at any time, with most activity early morning, evening and night per NatureServe. [1][2]
Most activity April-October, though it visits the surface on warm winter days; hibernates singly; shelters in stump holes, burrows of gopher tortoises and other animals and brush piles. [1][2]
Eats mainly rodents and rabbits (cottontails, marsh rabbits, cotton rats, squirrels); gives live birth in August-September to about 14 young. [1][2]
Limited legal take
Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.
Where legal take is listed
- Mississippi — reptile take · Title 40 Part 5 Rule 2.3 Regulations Regarding Non-Game Wildlife in Need of Management (MDWFP PDF; file dated 2024-04)
Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.
Where it is found
Southeastern coastal plain: NatureServe lists North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana; not recorded for Canada.
Sources
Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.
- BIOLOGICALNatureServe Explorer taxon record (API)
NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30
NatureServe
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology