snakes of nys

8/12/2019 Snakes of NYS

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CopperheadThe copperhead is an attractively-patterned, ven-omous snake with a pinkish-tan color superim-posed on darker brown to chestnut colored sad-dles that are narrow at the spine and wide at the

sides. The top of the head is usually copper incolor, hence its name. Although not as wide-spread, this species is found in habitats similarto that of the timber rattlesnake. The copper-head primarily eats small rodents, but will takeanything from caterpillars to small birds. The

young, which are born live, have a sulphurous- yellow tip on their tail that is used as a lure toentice prey. Length: two to three feet, rarely to

four feet.

The timber rattlesnake, a threatenedspecies, is a stocky, venomous snake. It isquite variable in color, ranging from yel-low with a series of V-shaped crossbands,to almost solid black. The tail ends in a

broad, loose series of rattles that make a distinct buzzing sound when shaken,warning all of their presence. Only occa-sionally seen, this species is most fre-quently encountered on rocky slopes

within hardwood forests. Their preferredprey are small rodents up to the size of chipmunks or red squirrels. The heat-sensitive pits between the eyes and nosehelp this snake catch prey even at night.

Young are born live in late summer andfollow the scent trail of their motherback to the den to hibernate for the win-ter. Length: three to four feet, rarely tofive feet.

Timber Rattlesnake


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The black rat snake is our longestsnake, reaching six feet in length.Its scales are uniformly black andfaintly keeled, giving it a satinyappearance. In some individuals,white shows between the blackscales, making the snake look

blotchy. Sometimes confused withthe milk snake, the young black ratsnake, which hatches from eggs inlate summer, is prominently pat-terned with white, grey and black,

but lacks both the "Y" or "V" on thetop of the head, and the reddishtinge to the blotches. This is a wood-land species, but is found aroundbarns where it is highly desirablefor its ability to seek and destroymice and rats, which it kills by coil-

ing around them and squeezing. Around farmyards, its eggs are oftenlaid in shavings piles used for live-stock bedding.

The common garter snake is New Yorks mostcommon snake species, frequently found in lawns,old fields and woodland edges. One of three close-ly related and similar appearing snake speciesfound in the state, the garter snake is highly vari-able in color pattern, but is generally dark green-ish with three light stripesone on each side andone mid-dorsal. The mid-dorsal stripe can be bare-ly visible and sometimes the sides appear to have

a checkerboard pattern of light and dark squares.This species consumes many kinds of insects,slugs, worms and an occasional small frog ormouse. Length 16 to 30 inches.

BlackRat Snake

Common Garter Snake


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The hognose snake is a thick-bodied specieswith a strongly upturned snout. Color variesconsiderably from blotched browns and yel-lows to almost uniformly black. When startledit can widen its neck like a cobra and emit a loud hissing sound. This may be followed byrolling over on its back and "playing dead."The display is mostly bluff, but gives thesnake the common name of puff adder.The hognose feeds almost exclusivelyon toads and is most frequentlyfound in sandy habitats. Length:20 to 33 inches, rarely to 45 inches.

The northernwater snake is amoderately heavy-bodied snake with irregularreddish brown bands across its lighter-coloredback. The blotches along the spine alternate withsmaller blotches along the sides. All are edgedwith a darker brown or black. Older individualsoften appear uniformly dark brown to almostblack. This species is found in or near water andfeeds primarily on frogs and small fish. Its prox-imity to water and often aggressive behaviorcause many people to mistake it for a cotton-mouth or water mocassin, a venomous speciesthat has a northern limit of southern Virginia.Length: 18 to 48 inches.

Milk snakes are proportionately slender animals,with greyish-white bodies that have a series of reddish-brown blotches with black edges. Theblotch on the top of the head surrounds a lighter-colored Y or V-shaped mark. Locals oftenmistakenly refer to these snakes as spottedadders. Milk snakes are frequently found in andaround barns, outbuildings and houses wherethey are attracted to mice. This search for smallrodents was misunderstood by early farmers whobelieved the snakes sucked milk from their cows.Constrictors, these snakes kill their prey by coil-ing around it and squeezing. Length: two tothree feet, rarely to four feet.

Northern Water Snake

Milk Snake

Hognose Snake

snakes of nys

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