Snake Identification and Education

Can you tell what this is? Found in western Missouri. Family guesses have ranged from hognose to masasaga.

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Today we are going to take a look at the Eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius).

There’s a lot of myths and inaccuracies around this snake species. The coral snake is one of North America’s elapids, meaning they are in the same group as cobras, kraits, etc. 

Here is a typical example of an Eastern coral snake:

Let’s break this down some.

Coral snakes are a smaller species, so their features can be a bit harder to see, they only grow around 3 feet on average. They have a distinguishable black head that stops right behind the eyes. This species is shy and lives mostly underground so your chances of seeing one are not very high.

Here is a species that is often mistaken for a coral snake:

This is a scarlet kingsnake, notice how the head is red and it’s a bit more angular than the coral.

You may have heard of the old rhyme “red and yellow kill a fellow.” Throw this out of your mind and forget it entirely.

This is a melanistic coral snake, no red to speak of but potentially dangerous if bitten by.

This is a Western shovelnose snake, yellow touches red but this species is completely harmless. 

Since you’re a herp, I thought you’d appreciate one of my father’s photos. He’s been studying the Banded Rock Rattlesnake for over thirty years and is the reason I love snakes.

This photo of three of his snakes shows the differences in the snake’s patterning depending on mountain range (which determines the gene pool as these snakes don’t range far.)

Love the blog!

Do you know what this little guy is? I saw him in central Jersey at a preserve…he hid between my shoes.

The timber rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, is one of the many rattlesnake species native to North America. Some other common names include canebrake and banded rattlesnake. This species is declining in many of its native places due to habitat loss/poaching and is protected in most states. When threatened, this species prefers to coil low to the ground rather than raising its body like other rattlesnake species do. 

Timbers have unique chevron markings that can be a huge help in distinguishing it from other rattlers. Please note that while they normally do have slit pupils, all animals eyes dilate depending on light source. Checking the eyes is a terrible way to identify snakes since plenty of harmless snakes have slit pupils and vice versa. It’s important to use many factors when identifying.

Depending on your region, there may also be dark phases, making it a bit trickier to see the typical markings.

All rattlesnakes have rattles, even newborns!! This little baby has a small rattle. A rattlesnake won’t have a tapered tail.

Timber rattlesnakes are native to the eastern parts of the US, and prefer heavily wooded areas. 

The black racer, Coluber constrictor, is a harmless North American snake with eleven different subspecies. For now we’ll just look at what every black racer has for traits and go with the specific subspecies at a later time.

Most racers have a lighter neck and snoot. They have large eyes and a ridge above it that makes them look a little angry. 

Here is a general range map that includes all subspecies. These snakes are fast and active, as well as curious. They are commonly seen ‘periscoping’, or in other words, they like to raise their heads up high to look at stuff.

Do you know what kind of snake this is? I live in South-Eastern MI and I just found this lil fellow on our driveway and wanted to know what type of snake he was. Thank you in advance.

Hello! This is the snake that lives in the science building at my uni. Lab technicians say she(?) is a carpet python but I think she looks more vibrant than the pics I’ve seen of them. The best match I could find on google was a Jungle Carpet Python. Thoughts?

Any idea of what snake this lil guy is? This is in Northeast ish Texas, DFW area

Ringneck snake, Diadophis punctatus, is a small and harmless North American species. There are approximately fourteen subspecies, the one pictured happens to be a southern ringneck. They are easily identified by the yellow to orange to red band around their neck. They range in colors from iridescent black to an olive gray.

A friend of a friend is looking to get this snake ID’d! They said that the head had a corn/ratsnake like head and that it was found somewhere in Louisiana. 

Common names for this species are; common lancehead, fer-de-lance, and barba amarilla. The binomal name is Bothrops atrox.  

The cottonmouth, the water moccasin, the swamp viper; whichever you call it, this species is Agkistrodon piscivorus. These snakes have an undeserved reputation of being aggressive, there’s even myths that they will chase people. Of course this is untrue, their main defense mechanism is actually to remain still while showing off their white mouths.

These traits are how you can identify a cottonmouth. Please note that plenty of harmless snakes do share these traits. While the slit eye can be indicative of a cottonmouth, their pupils can and do dilate depending on the amount of light hitting them. There are plenty of harmless species that have slit pupils, so don’t depend on that wive’s tale for your identifications.