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Rough Earth Snake : Haldea striatula
This small secretive snake is locally common in the South, but is normally found only when such shelters as boards and stones are overturned or logs and decaying trash piles are torn apart.
Western Smooth Earth Snake : Haldea valeriae elegans
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Distribution on maps are in blue. This is an estimate only and may not be totally accurate. Any additional information will be appreciated.
Non Venomous snakes in WHITE Venomous snakes in RED
Click on Name of Snake for Photograph and Distribution Map and additional info
Hognose Snakes : Genus Heterodon
Eastern Hognose Snake : Heterdon platyrhinos
Sandy areas are a favorite habitat. After a short period in captivity, most Hognose snakes fail to play dead any longer. They may hiss and spread thier heads when first encountered. Although toads are the mainstay, frogs and tadpoles also are eaten: so are some types of insects, especially by the young snakes.
Yellow Lipped Snake : Rhadinaea flavilata
A snake of the damp lowlands; in flatwoods and near borders of bogs and swamps. Secretive and found chiefly under logs and boards, beneath bark, or buried in loose soil. Food includes small frogs, toads, snakes, and lizards.
Mississippi Ringneck Snake : Diadophis punctatus stictogenys
Ringnecks are most often found where there are evedences of moisture; near swamps, springs, on damp wooded hillsides, etc.
Midwest Worm Snake : Carphophis amonenus helenae
Almost never seen in the open, but discovered under stones or boards, in rotting logs, during digging operations, etc. Partial to moist earth and disappearing deep underground in dry weather. When held in the hand, Worm snakes attempt to push their way between one's fingers with both head and spinelike tail tip. Food includes earthworms and soft bodied insects.
Western Worm Snake : Carphophis amoenus vermis
Essentially a woodland snake that follows stream valleys westward through prairie areas. Secretive and usually found under moist logs, stones, etc.
Rainbow Snake : Abastor erythrogrammus
This handsome snake seldom appears in the open. It burrows in a variety of habitats, including swamps and sandy fields. In the water it is perfectly at home and well able to catch the eels and other aquatic animals on which it feeds. Specimens are inoffensive when handled, but when first caught, the hind part of the body thrashes about violently, and the harmless, but sharp, tail spine scratches or stabs at the collector's hands, without, however, breaking the skin.
Western Mud Snake : Farancia abacura
A snake of southern swamps and lowlands. A burrower but also thoroughly at home in the water. Feeds chiefly on eel like salamanders which are maneuvered into better swallowing positions by being pricked with the snake's spinelike, albeit harmless, tail. When mud snakes are first caught, the tail also may press against the collector's hands. Other amphibians and fish also are eaten.
Racers and Whip Snakes:
Genera Coluber and Masticophis
Southern Black Racer : Coluber constrictor priapus
An alert, active locally abundant serpent that is quick to flee when approached but fights fiercely when cornered. Often retreats upward into brushes or low branches of trees when closely pursued. Normally makes a poor captive, seldom settling down and often falling victim to parasites and infections.
Eastern Yellow Bellied Racer : Coluber constrictor flaviventris
At home in fields and grasslands, brushy areas, and open woods. More likely to forage actively during the day than most other snakes. Like other small animals of plains and prairies, it takes refuge in clumps of vegetation, glides into mammal burrows, or hides in stone or rock piles.
Buttermilk Snake : Coluber constrictor anthicus
This racer looks almost as though it had been spattered by a bleaching compound.
Water Snakes : Genus Natrix
Green Water Snake : Natrix cyclopion cyclopion
A species of quiet bodies of water, edges of lakes and ponds, of swamps, rice fields, or marshes, of bayous and other water ways. Occasionally found in brackish water.
Diamond Backed Water Snake : Natrix rhombifera rhombifera
Throughout most of its rangethis is an ubiquitous serpent, appearing in many types of aquatic habitats from big lakes and rivers to ditches and cattle tanks.
Yellow Bellied Water Snake : Natrix erythrogaster flavigaster
A snake of the wetlands of the lower Mississippi valley and adjacent areas. Usually found in or near the larger more permanent bodies of water, in river bottoms, swamps, marshes, edges of ponds and lakes, etc.
Midland Water Snake : Natrix sipedon pleuralis
Throughout the bulk of its range this snake utilizes a wide variety of habitats, streams, ponds, marshes, etc. Toward the south, however, it follows river valleys, in some cases all the way to the gulf coast.
Broad Banded Water Snake : Natrix sipedon pleuralis
A snake of the great watery wilderness of the mississippi river delta region and of marshes, swamps, and shallow bodies of water in general throughout its range. Occurs to very edge of salt or brackish water along the gulf.
Gulf Salt Marsh Snake : Natrix sipedon clarki
An abundant snake of coastal beaches, swamps, and marshes; only rarely enters fresh water habitats. The only striped water snake normally occuring in a salt or brackish water habitat.
Graham's Water Snake : Natrix grahami
Found at margins of ponds and streams, along sloughs and bayous, and in swamps. Sometimes basks, but is more aapt to be found by overturning stones and debris at waters edge. May hide in holes in muddy stream banks or in crawfish chimneys. Food includes crawfish and other crustaceans, plus small amphibians and fishes.
Glossy Water Snake : Natrix rigida
Shiniest of all the water snakes. A secretive snake of the southern lowlands, rarely seen in the open except at night or after heavy rains. Decidedly aquatic, its habits resembling those of the swamp snakes. Food includes small fish, frogs, slamanders, and crawfish.
Eastern Coachwhip : Masticophis flagellum flagellum
An active, fast moving serpent that sometimes prowls with head raised well above ground. Normally escapes the would be collector with a burst of speed, but fights savagely when cornered. Coachwhips make nervous captives and are prone to strike repeatedly at persons passing their cages. In biting, they embed their teeth and then yank away, producing lacerations instead of puncture wounds.
Brown Snakes : Genus Storeria
Midland Brown Snake : Storeria dekayi wrightorum
This could almost be called the city snake because of the frequency with which it turns up in parks, cemeteries, and beneath trash in empty lots, even in our largest urban areas. Despite its abundance, it is so adept at hiding that few persons know it, and those who encounter it for the first time mistake it for a baby Garter Snake. Habitats (away from cities) include swamps, fresh water marshes, moist woods, hillsides, etc.
Northern Red Bellied Snake : Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata
A secretive snake of spotty distribution, common in some areas but rare or lacking in others that seemingly offer indentical habitats. Often found in open woods, but also occurs in damp woodlands down to sea level.
Texas Brown Snake : Storeria dekayi texana
Garter Snakes : Genus Thamnophis
Eastern Garter Snake : Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
A well known and common snake occupying a wide variety of habitats such as meadows, marshes, woodlands, hillsides, along streams and bayous, drainage ditches, and even in city lots and dumps where there is moisture or at least the ground is damp.
Western Ribbon Snake : Thamnophis sauritus proximus
Semi aquatic and remaining close to streams and other bodies of water in more arid parts of range.
Rough Green Snake : Opheodrys aestivus
An excellent climber that, when foraging amid vines or shrubs, blends with the background so well as to be virtually invisible. At times it is almost semi aquatic, freely entering shallow bodies of water. A frequent habitat is in dense growth of vegitation overhanging a stream or lake border. Crickets, grasshoppers, larvae of moths and butterflies and spiders constitute the bulk of the food. Will also eat small lizards and tree frogs.
Rat Snakes : Genus Elaphe
Corn Snake : Elaphe guttata guttata
This is the "Red Rat Snake a species much in demand as a pet. The Corn snake climbs well, but is most likely to be found in terrestrial habitats. More common in many areas than it appears, spending much time underground, resting in or prowling through rodent burrows or other subterranean passageways.
Slowinski's Corn Snake : Elaphe Slowinskii
A new species of Corn Snake described by Frank T. Burbrink. Named in honor of Joseph B. Slowinski. Distribution: Central Louisiana, east Texas, and possibly southeastern Arkansas
Black Rat Snake : Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta
Habitats range from rocky, timbered hillsides to flat farmlands. An excelent climber, sometimes establishing resedence in cavities high in hollow trees.
Gray Rat Snake : Elaphe obsoleta spiloides
Habits of this serpent are similar to those of the Black Rat snake, which it replaces in the south.
Texas Rat Snake : Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri
A snake with a variety of habitats, including the swampy country of the south. I have one of these as a pet. Its 4 feet long and I found her under some sheets of tin. They tend to bite sometimes, but this one seems to be well behaved. Besides rodents, they also eat frogs and large lizards, especially the young snakes.
Pine Snakes : Genus Pituophis
Black Pine Snake : Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi
Powerful constricting snakes that hiss loudly, vibrate their tails rapidly, and are likely to strike vigorously when first encountered.
Louisiana Pine Snake : Pituophis melanoleucus ruthveni
Similar habits to the Black Pine snake
King Snakes and Milk Snakes : Genus Lampropeltis
Speckled King Snake : Lampropeltis getulus holbrooki
This king snake makes use of a greater variety of habitats than any of the related subspecies. It is at home in the great river swamps of the lower Mississippi valley, in upland wooded areas, and in streams and valleys across the open plains and prairies. Shelters such as logs, rocks, ledges, thick clumps of vegitation, etc. , are utilized as hiding places.
Scarlet King Snake : Lampropeltis doliata doliata
Secretive and adept at working its way beneath bark, logs, or other hiding places; seldom seen in the open except at night or after heavy rains. Commonly found in or near woodland habitats, pine especially. Food includes small snakes and lizards, baby mice, small fish, and earthworms.
Louisiana Milk Snake - Lampropeltis triangulum amaura
Milk Snakes vibrate their tails and hiss and strike, but many do not readily tame; some have a habit , when handled, of biting without warning.
Prairie King Snake : Lampropeltis calligaster calligaster
A resident of the grassland prairies, open woodlands, and patches of prairie in the midst of essentially forested country.
Scarlet Snake : Cemophora coccinea
Usually found in or near soils suitable for burrowing such as sandy, in logs, beneath bark, etc. ; seldom seen above ground except at night or after heavy rains. Occasionally unearthed during plowing or excavation work. Young mice, small snakes, and lizards are killed by constriction.
Mole King Snake : Lampropeltis Calligaster
Black Headed Snakes : Genus Tantilla
Southeastern Crowned Snake : Tantilla coronata coronata
Habitats vary, from swamps to dry hillsides, and from wilderness areas to back yards. Almost always in hiding, under stones, in rotting logs, etc.
Slender Flat Headed Snake : Tantilla gracilis gracilis
A small, secretive, almost wormlike snake, completely inoffensive but adept at forcing its way through the fingers when held in hand. Normally found under rocks or logs, below which there is at least moisture
The following snakes are very dangerous and highly venomous. Approach these snakes with great caution or not at all, under no circumstances should you attempt to handle them unless you are trained to do so.
Coral Snakes : Family Elapidae (Vipers)
Eastern Coral Snake : Micrurus fulvius
These snakes are dangerously venomous. They are vipers which include Cobras, mambas, kraits, and tiger snakes. Coral snakes are usually secretive, but when they prowl it is normally by day, especially in early morning. Sometimes they may be discovered hiding under leaves or debris, in logs, palmetto stumps, etc. Coral snakes eat snakes, lizards, and frogs. One thing to remember in identification " Red touch yellow, kill a fellow; Red touch black friend of Jack"
Texas Coral Snake : Micrurus fulvius tenere
A subspecies of the Eastern Coral Snake
Pit Vipers : Subfamily Crotalinae
Copperheads and Cottonmouths : Genus : Agkistrodon
Southern Copperhead : Agkistrodon contortrix contortrix
This is mainly a snake of the lowlands, of low ground near swamps and cypress bordered streams.
Western Cottonmouth : Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma "Water Moccasin"
Also known as "Water Moccasins". Cottonmouths often stand their ground or crawl slowly away. Cottonmouths vibrate their tails when excited. A thoroughly aroused Cottonmouth throws its head upward and backward and holds its mouth wide open, revealing white interior; origin of the name Cottonmouth.
Rattlesnakes : Genra Sistrurus and Crotalus
Pit Vipers
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake : Crotalus adamanteus
At home in the palmetto flatwoods and dry pinelands of the south. Will rattle when dogs or persons are 20 or 30 feet away. Many stand their ground, but when hard pressed, they back away, rattling vigorously but still facing the intruder. Frequently they take refuge in burrows of Gopher Tortoises, in holes, beneath stumps, etc. Rabbits, rodents, and birds are eaten.
Canebrake Rattlesnake : Crotalus horridus atricaudatus
A lowland counterpart of the Timber Rattle Snake that is at home in cane thickets and swamplands of the south.
Western Pigmy Rattlesnake : Sistrurus miliarius streckeri "Ground Rattler"
Habitats are usually in areas where water is nearby; in river floodplains, swamps, marshes, and wet praries.
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