Watch your step on Ossabaw and Wassaw islands. A statewide survey of Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes found significant populations on Georgia’s barrier islands, among other places. “We can regard the coastal plain of Georgia as a population stronghold still for the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake,” said Dirk Stevenson of the Orianne Society, which produced the population study for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. The coastal plain covers the southern third of Georgia, with rattlesnakes preferring evergreen forest in the quail plantations located in the south central and southwestern part of the state, uplands within the Altamaha River Drainage, and the barrier islands and coastal strand regions. DNR commissioned the survey because Eastern diamondbacks are being considered for protected status under the Endangered Species Act.