This attribute makes them the preferred species of venomous snake used during snake handling religious services. However, if you encounter this snake you should leave it alone. Its venom is highly toxic and people have died from its bites. The coloration of this species is blackish, yellowish, pinkish, or grayish with dark, bent, cross bands aligned along the dorsal length of its body. A reddish dorsal stripe runs between the crossbands and it has a black tail.
Canebrakes have more dark markings and they usually have a middorsal stripe.
Timber Rattlesnakes inhabit forest, nearby fields, swampy areas, and thickets in the Appalachians, upper Piedmont, and Coastal regions of the state. It's range has been reduced in the middle of the state and its numbers have also decreased in many other areas. Much of this decline can be attributed to loss of habitat. Contributing to this decline is the low reproductive rate of female Timber Rattlesnakes. They mate in the summer or fall and give birth to 5 to 17 young during late summer.