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Snakes of the Southeast U.S. For spottings of snake species in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia! Please only post photographs of wild snakes and also include the date and location of your observations.
- Rainbow Snake
- Timber Rattlesnake
- Scarlet Kingsnake
- Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
- Red-bellied Snake
- Copperhead
- Central Florida Crowned Snake
- Cottonmouth
- Black Swamp Snake
- Coral Snake
Rainbow snakes of the south grow up to five feet long. They have medium-heavy bodies, with narrow heads. They get their name from their highly colorful appearance, particularly on their bellies. Unfortunately, humans almost never get to see rainbow snakes, as they spend much of their time in the water, and tend to hide from humans. These snakes hav...
Timber rattlesnakes, also known as canebrake rattlesnakes grow up to five feet long. They have cream-colored bodies with narrow, dark brown, geometric bands. Like all rattlesnakes, they have rattles and hinged fangs. Canebrake rattlesnakes are highly venomous, and should not be approached, handled, or harassed in any way. They eat small mammals lik...
Scarlet kingsnakes grow up to 30 inches long and have slender bodies with narrow heads. Milk snakes and scarlet kingsnakes are two subspecies of the same snake. Each has a different coloring. Scarlet kingsnakes are bright red, with yellow and black stripes. Milk snakes are cream-colored, with brown splotches ringed with black. Neither subspecies is...
Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes of the south are large and dangerous. They grow up to eight feet long and have one of the deadliest bites in North America. These snakes have the characteristic diamond-like pattern of rattlesnakes. They are made up of scales of almost every shade of brown. These snakes live in thickly vegetated areas,where they hun...
Red-bellied snakes of the south are tiny, growing only up to ten inches long. They may be black with red bellies, all over brown, gray, or even brown with an orange stripe. They’re nonvenomous and live in many suburban and forested areas. Red-bellied snakes eat insects, slugs, and worms. When threatened, they curl their lips up to show their teeth.
Copperhead snakes of the south grow up to 40 inches long. They have venomous bites, though they’ve never been responsible for a human fatality. These snakes are light brown with characteristic hourglass-shaped dark brown bands. They have medium-heavy bodies, with triangular heads and vertically elliptical pupils. Copperheads often hide under buildi...
Central Florida crowned snakes are tiny, with adults growing only to nine inches long. They only live in certain parts of central and eastern Florida. These snakes are very pale in color, with jet-black heads. They’re fossorial, which means they spend most of their time underground. Central Florida crowned snakes eat mostly insects, like worms. The...
Cottonmouths are highly venomous members of the pit viper family. They have broad, triangular heads with large venom glands, vertically elliptical pupils (like a cat’s eyes), and fangs. They’re typically dusky brown or gray, with darker hexagonal bands. Cottonmouths grow up to four feet long. They’re known to aggressively stand their ground when hu...
Black swamp snakes of the south grow up to 22 inches long. They have heavy bodies with narrow heads and black eyes. Their backs and sides are dark brown or black, while their bellies are bright red and lack markings. They live in the southeastern United States, where they spend most of their time in the water. These snakes eat frogs, tadpoles, and ...
Coral snakes are beautiful and deadly. They live in the extreme southeastern part of North America. These snakes grow up to four feet long, with narrow bodies and head the same width as their bodies. They’re black, with narrow yellow stripes bordering thicker red stripes. Despite their lethal bite, coral snakes are shy and rarely encountered by hum...
- Eastern Copperhead. Agkistrodon contortrix. Identifying Characteristics: Adults reach lengths between 20 and 37 inches. Stout body, broad head, and elliptical pupils.
- Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake. Crotalus adamanteus. Identifying Characteristics: Adults typically range from 3 to 6 feet long! Coloration is a mixture of browns, yellows, grays, or olive.
- Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake. Crotalus atrox. Identifying Characteristics: Adults typically grow to about 4 feet in length. Coloration ranges from brown, gray, brick red, pinkish, and chalky white.
- Timber Rattlesnake. Crotalus horridus. Identifying Characteristics: Adults typically range from 30 to 60 inches in length. Coloration is variable and generally ranges from yellowish-brown to gray to almost black.
- Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake. The Coastal Plains region of South Carolina is home to pygmy rattlesnakes. Sandhills, floodplains, and mixed woods are where you’ll commonly find these snakes.
- Carolina Water Snake. The northern Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and mountains of North Carolina are home to a range of aquatic habitats where northern water snakes can be found.
- Eastern Coral Snake. Only the southeastern region of the United States is home to the eastern coral snake. It favors habitats with hammocks, flat woods with slash pine and saw palmetto trees, and sandy, open areas with some vegetation but not too much.
- Eastern Ribbon Snake. While present in much of the eastern US, eastern ribbon snakes are missing from the Appalachian Mountains. They are frequently encountered in Georgia’s Piedmont and Coastal Plain, but their frequency increases as you move from the Mountains to the Coast.
Jul 18, 2023 · The Southern states are home to a lot of critters, including a certain slithery kind -- snakes, that is -- that some folks might wish would go live elsewhere. That said, most snakes found in the South are relatively harmless, and in some ways even helpful.
- Amber Sutton
Pine Woods Snake (Rhadinaea flavilata) Black Swamp Snake (Seminatrix pygaea) Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi) Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata) Florida Brown Snake (Storeria victa) Southeastern Crowned Snake (Tantilla coronata) Central Florida Crowned Snake (Tantilla relicta) Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)
May 23, 2005 · Fifty-three kinds of snakes can be found in the Southeast, almost half of all species native to North America. Filled with more than 300 color photographs and written by two renowned herpetologists, this new edition is the most comprehensive authoritative guide to the snakes of the region.
