The Eastern Diamondback is the largest species of rattlesnake in the world. A sequence of large brown or black diamonds outlined with cream colored scales run down its back. This is the only rattlesnake species in North Carolina with two light lines running along its face and two light lines aligned vertically on its snout. The Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake has a large rattle on the tip of its tail that makes a loud buzzing when the snake feels threatened. These snakes inhabit flatwoods, abandoned farmland, and sandy woodlands in the southern Coastal Plain.
Diamondbacks eat rodents, rabbits, and birds.
Females give birth to 7-21 young from July to October. Eastern Diamondback populations in North Carolina have been reduced greatly by habitat destruction and rattlesnake hunters.