The largest rattlesnake ever caught in the state was a 18-foot, 2,000-pound specimen that was captured in Fayette County in 2013. [1] Species are listed as such owing to their wide distribution or presumed large population, or because they are unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category. The snake was estimated to be over 18 feet long and weighed more than 100 pounds. Its size will surprise you. Mausteller, Emily R. Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake - Marshall University. Marshall Digital Scholar, MD Scholar, 2020. Regardless of the number of rattlers recorded in any county, unless they are responding to unusual conditions like drought or habitat destruction, the snakes tend to stick close to rock outcroppings, crevices and ledges in upland forests. There are only two kinds of rattlesnakes in Pennsylvania, but that doesnt mean rattlesnakes are rare in the state. A copperhead, on the other hand, will go completely still. Keep reading to learn more about the two most common types of rattlesnakes in Pennsylvania! Pennsylvania has a large population of Rattlesnakes because it is an ideal place for them to live. Theyll move more upland in the summer and live in fields, meadows, or prairies. The population trend was down when assessed in 2007. Like all pit vipers, this snake can hunt in full darkness and identify its prey by detecting the heat of its body. These snakes are the largest of the rattlesnakes. Once they become fully mature snakes, theyll switch to choosing to eat small mammals above all else. Love Pennsylvania? Many eat quail, towhees, and other migratory birds. Generally, they are very beneficial wherever they are because they eat pests such as rats, mice, gophers, and others. PARS numbers are not the result of any countywide search for all timber rattlesnakes in any county and do not represent a census of precisely where in each county the snakes were encountered. Well talk more about rattlesnakes below, as well as some of the largest snakes around the world. Keystone State. There are 121 state parks throughout the state of Pennsylvania, giving these rattlesnakes a lot of land to find their preferred habitat. [3], The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is found in the Southeastern United States from southeastern North Carolina, south along the coastal plain through peninsular Florida to the Florida Keys, and west along the Gulf Coast through southern Alabama and Mississippi to southeastern Louisiana. Snakes begin to reproduce at three to four years old. As far as length and weight go, the longest and heaviest giant eastern diamondback rattlesnake ever caught was in 1946, when it was 7.9 feet long and weighed 15.4 kilograms (34 pounds). "Effects of body mass and temperature on standard metabolic rate in the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (. They live in forests with swamps and rivers and can often be found in the Amazon. local conservation officer of the Pa. These snakes are mostly found in desert or semi-desert areas. The tail is solid brown to black. They are large, heavy-bodied snakes with large, broad heads with two light lines on the face. The brochure also suggests that we "never walk barefoot or with open shoes, like sandals, when hiking through Pennsylvania's wild lands. They measure to be around 3 to 5 feet but sometimes grow longer than 6 feet. What is the capacity of the largest sports stadium in the US? These secretive reptiles are frequently misunderstood and feared, even though they are important links in the food chain. The US is also home to cottonmouths and copperheads which are also venomous pit vipers like the rattlesnake. In Pennsylvania, the timber rattlesnake is a candidate species for possible listing as threatened.