- I'm Coyote Peterson.
This morning on the outskirts of the Everglades
you'd never believe the set of fangs
that the team and I encountered.
You're gonna wanna stick around for this.
(intense wildlife music)
This morning the crew and I were exploring
a pine rockland habitat in Homestead, Florida.
This environment provides great camouflage
and is the perfect place to find North America's
largest pit viper, the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
Our goal today is to locate one of these snakes
and bring it up close to the cameras
to show you some of it's most amazing but deadly features.
To do this, I will cautiously handle the snake
so no harm comes to me or the reptile.
Woah! Woah woah stop!
We got a rattle.
Keep coming slow, slow.
Watch where you're stepping.
Watch where you're steppin'.
- [Cameraman] Where did it come from?
- Right up in front of us somewhere.
A lot of thick ground cover and this is the most dangerous
position you could be in for looking for rattlesnakes.
You hear a rattle once, if it doesn't rattle again
you're just kind of frozen in place saying, "Ok,
"How close am I to that snake?"
Oh! Right here.
See it? Right here in front of us.
Yup, it's an Eastern Diamondback.
Wow! What a beauty!
That's a really good size Eastern Diamondback.
This is not a good position for me to try
to get you guys close to film.
I'm gonna get him from the tail.
Wow look at that. Ok.
I don't want him getting any closer to my hand then that.
Alright let's move this way.
Step back just a little bit.
He's staying pretty calm cause its still early
in the morning and these snakes come out about
this time to warm up in the sun.
All reptiles are exothermic which means
they rely on the sun to heat up with energy
and go out and hunt for the day.
This species of rattlesnake is the heaviest in the world
and they can grow to be about five and a half, six feet.
This one's probably about two in a half, three feet.
That doesn't mean we have to give it any less respect.
Most of the time these snakes can be pretty aggressive
if provoked and of course we've kind of taken him
out of the underbrush there and up on the road
to get a better look and there comes
the kind of classic defense posture.
Curl myself into a ball, you see he's starting
to puff up his body, make himself look bigger.
Because the snake is so calm right now
and because it's just starting to warm up,
it's probably safe for me to head the snake
which means I'm going to gently pin his head down
and hold it so I can have full control.
Ok you guys ready?
Now pinning it's head down doesn't hurt
the snake in any way.
This is the only way to safely show
you the fangs of the snake.
Get that shot ok?
(hissing and scuffling)
Woah he is strong and he's not happy
to have his head picked up but that's ok.
This is a much more controlled situation now.
I've got pretty good grip on his head there
so I won't risk gettin' tagged by those fangs
and like all pit vipers, the Eastern Diamonback
has a set of hinged fangs that kind of come down
from the roof of the mouth so when he opens up
to strike like this, those fangs come out into the prey,
they inject venom and the prey doesn't die right away.
Actually what the snake will do is let the prey run off.
So lets say I'm a rat, I get bit by this rattlesnake.
I start to run, before I know it I also start to give out
and the snake using it's heat sensing pits and it's tongue
will actually follow that trail until it finds the rat
or whatever the unlucky prey might have been
and then of course it has it's dinner.
This is the most dangerous part
but what I wanna do is try to see if I can get
the snake to wrap it's fangs around the edge of the stick.
So you can see how long they are and this is what
you really need to be careful of
when you're out here working with a snake like this.
Ok you guys ready?
There you go.
Look at that.
Now you get bit by those little hypodermic needles
and you've got a hemotoxin going into your bloodstream.
It's gonna start killing red blood cells.
You want to get yourself to the hospital
as fast as you possibly can to get some antivenom.
Alright I'm going to let his hangs back in.
There you go buddy, close your mouth.
Alright, wow, thanks for being such a sport for that.
What an absolutely gorgeous snake.
Now this is not a snake that is ever going
to come looking for you.
The only reason that this snake is even here
for the cameras is because we managed
to hear it's defensive warning sign that famous rattle
and I was able to pick him up safely
and get him out here in a controlled situation
so I could give you guys a closer look.
I never ever, ever recommend that you go out
and try to pick up a rattlesnake.
Extremely dangerous, one of the most venemous
rattlesnakes in the United States.
Wow, what an encounter.
Cool but dangerous with the Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.
Now I'm sure maybe you guys have had yourselves
in the same position I was just in.
Walking through the wild and you hear a rattle.
I wanna know about your stories so leave
it in the comment section below.
I'm Coyote Peterson, Be Brave, Stay Wild
we'll see you on the next adventure.
Alright buddy, you ready to go back out there into the wild?
(mellow wondrous music)
If you thought that was one wild adventure
check out these other animal encounters
and don't forget, subscribe to follow
me and the crew on this season of Breaking Trail.