Eastern Diamondbacks are not a major component of conservation in longleaf pinelands of southern Georgia. I can easily imagine that many organizations involved in herp related issues will prop them up as a super vulnerable species, but it’s no different than the Audubon Society freaking out every year that a common species has a .1% chance of becoming endangered. I get people are passionate about things, and that’s great, but it doesn’t translate into environmental reality.
So why aren’t we concerned about Diamondbacks? Because their population is significant, especially amongst the coastal plains regions and throughout southern Georgia. Now there are conservation efforts underway in other states, because as I said, they are not a key species in longleaf pinelands, as you claim, their range is very wide. They could be doing great in one place, but threatened in others, but that’s the case for many species and not unusual. I’m specifically talking about pine savanna, where, if a large enough population forms, they will be a detriment. Which with an increase in summer temperatures, we’re heading that way. How? Well take the gopher tortoises, which are a keystone species, they get their name from digging deep burrows that other animals utilize. Now during fires (which are essential to forest health), other animals will utilize these holes for safety, including vulnerable species like some of the small mammals. That won’t go very well for them if a Diamondback is in every hole. And believe me, that is an issue. During fieldwork 9 out of 10 of holes I surveyed had rattlesnakes. This is also bad for the tortoise because misguided people will kill them in an effort to keep the snakes away. Rattlesnakes have few natural predators here because, unfortunately, their predators are endangered or under threat.
The Indigo snake is the best example. They are natural predators to rattlesnakes (as are kingsnakes, though they’re not as swift hunters), but declining populations of indigos means an increase in rattlers. Now in ecology we have something called carrying capacity, it’s the maximum number an environment can hold of an individual species. These numbers get pushed when you have a species that starts to lose natural predation, like white tailed deer. Bleeding hearts can screech about hunting as much as they like, but it is necessary to keep them under carrying capacity, else they’ll suffer a worse fate from disease and cause a knock down effect on other species. This is a main component as to why they are not protected as of yet. There is a fine balance the state must maintain between hunting and population control.
I hope it went well, and that all of your friends and family love and accept you as who you are.
