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Article: Dean of America's Venomous Snakes.(diamondback rattlesnake)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- August 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A herpetology expedition that examines the highly dangerous eastern diamondback rattlesnake learns not only about the animal's biological features but about snake handling as well.
My most frightening experience with the largest species of venomous snake in North America lasted less than a minute, beginning the moment I saw the droplets of yellow venom moving toward my ever-so-wide-open eyes. Tony Mills, education coordinator at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, and I had brought a group of seven students on a herpetology field trip near the Florida Everglades, when we first noticed the snake emerging from a palmetto stand. Tony immediately swerved the van to ...