Wildlife Viewing - Species Spotlight - Florida's Nonvenomous Snakes

Species Spotlight : Florida's Nonvenomous Snakes (click the pictures below for a larger photo)

Racer and Coachwhip
Rat Snakes
Kingsnake
Hognose Snake
Garter and Ribbon Snakes
Water Snakes and "Moccasins"
Ringnecks and Other Little Snakes
Venomous Snakes

Racer and Coachwhip

One of Florida's most familiar snakes is the "blacksnake" or, more properly, the southern black racer. Aptly named for its coloration and speed, the black racer is common in a wide variety of habitats, most frequently in brush- or shrub-covered areas near water.

The adult racer is a slender, satiny snake, plain black or slate gray with a white or gray chin and throat. Maximum length is about 70 inches, but most are 36-60 inches long. Persons otherwise familiar with snakes are often "stumped" by young black racers, which are colored very differently form the adults. For a year after hatching, racers are slate gray with regular rusty brown blotches running down the back. Black racers shouldn't be mistaken for the threatened eastern indigo snakes, which also are large, shiny and black. Indigos are much heavier, have a rusty or red chin and throat, and are much more local in distribution.

Black racers are nervous, irritable and fast-moving. When given a chance to escape, they generally do so very quickly. However, racers, especially juveniles, will not hesitate to bite when cornered. They also vibrate their tails when they feel threatened, causing some people to mistake them for rattlesnakes.

Eastern Coachwhip

Unlike many snakes, the black racer hunts actively during daylight hours, one reason why they are frequently noticed. The eyes, with their rich, chestnut-brown irises, are large in relation to its head, betraying the racer's keen vision.

Part of the racer's success is due to its wide diet; they have been referred to as "slithering garbage pails." Racers capture a tremendous variety of animals, including other snakes, lizards, frogs, birds, rodents and insects. While hunting in open areas, the racer often raises its head high above the ground, cobra-style, to survey its surroundings better.

Many of these characteristics are shared with the racer's larger cousin, the eastern coachwhip. This snake can be over 8 feet long and frequents dry, open habitats including pine flatwoods, sandhill and scrub. It's an active hunter and quick to bite in self-defense. Typically, its head and front quarter of the body are black to dark brown, which fades to light tan on the remainder of the body and tail.

Rat Snakes

Red Rat (Corn) Snake

There are only two species of rat snakes native to Florida, but they are so variable in color and pattern you'd think there were many more. The red rat or "corn" snake is the only large, red-orange snake likely to be encountered in developed areas of Florida. Because of its color, this snake is frequently mistaken for the dissimilar, venomous copperhead. Actually, the copperhead is rare in Florida and found only in the heavily timbered counties flanking the Apalachicola River.

Grey Rat Snake

The red rat snake varies in color but usually is some shade of yellowish-tan to orange, with a row of large, dark-edged red or rusty blotches down the center of the back. The black and white belly resembles a piano keyboard. The other species of rat snake has several names to match its appearance, which varies in different parts of the state. Young of this species are gray with irregular darker gray blotches on the back. In the panhandle, the adults retain this color pattern and are known as the gray rat or "white oak" snake. Throughout most of the peninsula, however, the adults are orangish with four narrow, brown stripes running the length of the body. These are commonly called yellow rat or "chicken" snakes.

Yellow Rat Snake

The red rat snake may grow to a length of 72 inches, but averages 30-48 inches. The gray and yellow rat snakes may reach a body length of 84 inches, but those most commonly seen are 42-72 inches. Both species are found throughout Florida in almost every habitat, but are shy and secretive, spending most of their time in trees, under brush and mulch piles, or inside old buildings and other structures. Rat snakes are the best climbers of Florida's snakes, thanks to powerful constricting muscles and specially edged belly scales that they press into tiny irregularities in order to climb vertically up tree trunks and other surfaces.

Young rat snakes feed mostly on lizards and frogs, but adults graduate to rodents and birds, which they kill by constriction. They are quite useful in controlling rats and mice. In late spring to early summer, females lay up to 30 eggs, which hatch in mid- to late summer. Rat snakes tame easily, but will defend themselves aggressively when cornered. When threatened, they may also vibrate their tails rapidly.

Kingsnake

Florida Kingsnake

The kingsnake is a large, powerful snake found throughout mainland Florida in a variety of habitats, often near water. Although normally between 36 and 48 inches, it is known to reach 82 inches in length.

Northern Scarlet Snake

The kingsnake color pattern varies almost as dramatically as that of the rat snakes. In north Florida, most are the eastern kingsnake variety, which is shiny black with narrow crossbands of white or light yellow. Most central and south Florida specimens are the Florida kingsnake variety, with many indistinct crossbands on a yellow and black "salt and pepper" background. Some populations are intermediately speckled or blotched, but all varieties have the distinctive kingsnake chin marked by black and yellow.

Scarlet Kingsnake

The kingsnake is an egg-laying constrictor, feeding primarily on rodents, birds and reptiles. Its reputation as the "king of snakes" probably stems form its fondness for eating other snakes, including rattlesnakes and other pit vipers, whose venom does not harm the kingsnake. Persons not keen about having many snakes on their property should be careful to safeguard their local kingsnakes!

Hognose Snakes

Eastern Hognose Snake, in defensive posture

The eastern and southern hognose snakes are two of Florida's least offensive, yet most maligned nonvenomous snakes, due to their appearance and exaggerated defensive stunts. Hognose snakes are found in upland habitats and prefer dry, sandy woods and fields. The eastern hognose is found throughout mainland Florida while the southern hognose occurs only in the northern half.

Both hognose snakes are rather stout-bodied and have alternating brown and tan or yellow blotches, although some eastern hognoses are solid black above, with no sign of pattern. Young hognose snakes, which hatch in summer or fall, are gray with black markings. Eastern hognoses may reach 45 inches, but commonly are 20-23 inches long; the southern hognose never exceeds 24 inches. The peculiar upturned snout, which is most dramatic in the southern hognose, is specially designed for digging out toads, their major prey.

Eastern Hognose Snake, playing dead

Many types of nonvenomous snakes are killed by Floridians each year out of fear or ignorance, but hognoses, because of their defensive antics, are more likely to be targeted. When alarmed, hognose snakes will hiss, puff and jerk about, raise their head, and flatten their neck into a convincing, cobra-like hood. They may even strike but don't open their mouth. If this doesn't frighten away their attacker, they then thrash about, spew out a foul-smelling musk, roll over, and play dead, often with the mouth open tongue dragging on the ground. Despite the hognose's dramatic display to ward off attack, the strategy backfires with people and the harmless snakes are often killed.

In contrast, the smaller but similarly patterned pygmy rattlesnake will coil, strike and bite savagely if molested. Pygmy rattlers do not have the sharply upturned nose of the hognose snakes and possess a tiny rattle that makes a barely audible buzzing sound.

Garter and Ribbon Snakes

Garter Snake

In Florida, any snake you could describe as "striped" is nonvenomous, and the most familiar are probably the garter and ribbon snakes. These closely related species are common in a variety of habitats, mostly near water or wet areas. Garter snakes are quite variable in color. They may be black, brown or greenish on a background checkerboard of small black spots, and most individuals have three obvious stripes on the back and sides running the length of the body. These stripes may be green, blue, yellow or tan. Garter snakes are fairly slender; their maximum length is about 48 inches, but most are 18-26 inches.

Ribbon Snake

Ribbon snakes are colored similarly to garter snakes, but usually lack the background checkerboard pattern, and the back stripe may be faint or absent. As the name implies, ribbon snakes are exceedingly slender, and don't grow longer than 40 inches. They are excellent climbers, often taking refuge in low shrubs.

Large garter snakes may eat small rodents, but their common diet consists of worms, minnows, frogs and toads. They often are quite aggressive when cornered and expel a foul-smelling musk when handled. Ribbon snakes feed mostly on small fish, frogs and lizards. They are quick-moving and nervous, preferring to flee when given any chance to do so. Ribbon snakes rarely bite, but do release a strong-smelling musk when handled. Both species bear live young.

Water Snakes and "Moccasins"

Banded Water Snake

Some people mistakenly call all snakes they see near water "water moccasins," but only the cottonmouth water moccasin is venomous. Most of the snakes seen along Florida rivers and lake edges are harmless water snakes. There is ample room for confusion, however, since both cottonmouths and water snakes may be very dark with rough scales, may attain lengths over 4 feet, and can be relatively thick-bodied.

Redbelly Water Snake

Water snakes are distinguished from poisonous cottonmouths by their behavior and their "face." Cottonmouths tend to stay put when encountered, often coiled and, if sufficiently harassed, will give the open-mouth display that gives them their name. Harmless water snakes, which commonly bask stretched out on tree branches over water, are more likely to seek immediate escape into the water when encountered. Also, cottonmouths usually swim with their entire body on top of the water, whereas water snakes are more likely to escape underwater or swim with only their head at the surface.

Brown Water Snake

The face of a cottonmouth has a more "sinister" appearance due to the broad scale that protrudes like a shelf above each eye. Its head has an angular, "chiseled" aspect, and Florida cottonmouths always have a dark brown band that runs across the side of the head through the eye. The nonvenomous water snakes have no protruding scales over the eyes, so they appear more "bug-eyed," and the head typically has a more rounded aspect.

Four of the largest and most commonly seen water snakes include the plainbelly, banded, brown and Florida green water snakes. The plainbelly water snakes frequents the banks of large rivers in the panhandle and northern peninsula (Suwannee River drainage), whereas the other three are common in rivers, lakes and ponds statewide. All are proficient hunters of fish, frogs and other aquatic animals and have long teeth for holding slippery prey. Thus, harmless water snakes, notorious for fiercely defending themselves, typically bite and draw blood when captured. Although nonvenomous, such bites are painful and, like all animal bites, should be washed thoroughly to avoid infection. Water snakes bear their young alive and sometimes abundantly; Florida green water snakes can have litters as large as 100!

Ringnecks and Other Snakes

Southern Ringneck Snake

Redbelly Snake

All the snakes discussed so far are relatively large, but the most abundant snakes in Florida are seldom more than 12-14 inches long. Although common in most gardens and backyards, these diminutive snake species are easily overlooked due to their secretive habits.

A good representative is the southern ringneck snake, a distinctive little snake that is shiny black or dark gray above, with a bright orange or yellow neck ring. The belly is a startlingly bright orange or yellow with a row of black half-moons down the center. Ringnecks spend most of their lives under mulch or leaf litter, where they feed on small lizards, earthworms, slugs and salamanders. They are fairly social and often are found in groups of two or three.

Crown Snake

The ringneck is one of the least aggressive animals in the world and almost never attempts to bite people. Even if it should try to bite, its mouth and teeth are too small to cause a wound. When seriously threatened, ringnecks defend themselves by thrashing about and expelling musk. The four to seven eggs laid in midsummer hatch 40-50 days later into tiny snakelings, only 4 inches long!

Wildlife Viewing : Species Spotlight : Florida's Nonvenemous Snakes