Photographic Evidence of a Bobcat (Lynx rufus) Attack on an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)

Mohamed Khalil Meliane^1,*, Peyton E. Niebanck¹, Nicole Rita¹, Samantha Nunn¹, and E. Hance Ellington^1,2

¹Range Cattle Research and Education Center, University of Florida, 3401 Experiment Station Road, Ona, FL 33865. ²Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, 110 Newins-Ziegler Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 25, Issue 3 (2026): N52–N55

First published early online: 12 August 2026

Abstract
Adult rattlesnakes are infrequently documented as prey, and direct evidence of mammalian attacks on large venomous snakes is limited. We report a camera-trap sequence of an attack involving a Lynx rufus (Bobcat) and an adult Crotalus adamanteus (Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake) in Florida. A remote camera recorded 38 photographs between 08:38 am and 10:14 am on 20 August 2022. The image sequence shows the Bobcat avoiding the rattlesnake’s tail, biting the tail, clawing the body, and biting the head. Subsequent photographs show the rattlesnake overturned and bearing visible wounds to the head, midbody, and tail. Our observations provide rare primary photographic evidence of a Bobcat attacking an adult Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake and add to the limited documentation of Bobcats as predators of large reptiles.

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