TIMMERMAN: CROTALUSADAMANTEUS ON ORDWAY PRESERVE


"summer," from March to November. Means (1985) recorded the activity seasons
of Tall Timbers diamondbacks as late March to early November, which is just
slightly shorter than the activity period on the Ordway Preserve.

 Movements.- Diamondbacks traveled farther during the months of
September, October and November than any other period, averaging over 20 m per
day (Table 4). During winter (December, January, and February) they moved less
than 10 m per day. Snakes were included in the sample pool for a particular
month only if they had been tracked for at least 20 days during that month.
Although a small sample size precludes statistical analysis of intrasexual
movement patterns, it appears that females may move nearly as far as some males,
but use their home ranges more intensely, making more localized moves (Table 5).
The movements of five Ordway rattlesnakes are depicted in Figures 3-7.
 Means (1985) believes that increased snake movements in the fall, observed
in both our studies, relate to three separate diamondback behaviors. The first is the
fall mating behavior, during which time males make long moves searching for
prospective mates. Next, an increase in movements related to foraging efforts is
noticed, Means reasons, because of high mammal and bird populations due to
recruitment by young of the year. Finally, the onset of cold weather stimulates
snakes to search for suitable wintering grounds. We must await further studies to
discover whether his interpretation of these seasonal movements is correct.
 Snakes were observed crawling on 40 occasions. The majority of these
observations were made between 0600 and 1800 hours (Table 6). Eastern
diamondbacks move during the day and are only rarely seen traveling at night.
Nevertheless, Ditmars (1936) believed that in South Carolina, "their tracks across



Table 4. Mean monthly distances traveled by eastern diamondback rattlesnakes at the Ordway Preserve,
Putnam County, Florida. Samples include only those individuals tracked 20-1 days during the month.


 Sample Average Distance
Month Size Range (m) Moved Per Day (m)


January 5 0.0 -15.4 4.5
February 7 0.0 4.5 4.2
March 5 1.1 -32.6 17.5
April 6 3.9 -26.7 12.3
May 6 0.6 -52.3 21.4
June 4 8.7 19.5 13.1
July 4 10.5 -26.9 18.6
August 4 8.8 -23.1 15.2
September 6 12.0 -36.7 24.9
October 7 2.9 -45.5 22.2
November 7 4.4 -34.2 28.3
December 7 0.06- 19.5 9.1