Although they are venomous, they’re the least venomous of all pit vipers, and their bite stands little chance of causing serious health problems.Ĭopperheads have the most limited range in Florida. If you approach one, you might not realize that you’re frightening it. This is a problem both for the snake and the person that finds them because it makes it more likely that they’ll get scared and bite you. Unlike many other snakes, it freezes if disturbed. This is a behavior they learned that’s termed ‘Batesian mimicry,’ which means that they’re copying an even scarier predator to make other animals scared of them.Ĭopperheads are an ambush predator that usually avoids humans. They also don’t have a rattle, although they’ll still rattle their tail, as if they’re pretending. This and their low-contrast, dusty brown color makes camouflage easy for them. The copperhead is named after its bright rusty-red head. This attacks your nervous system, stopping your lungs and heart from working. They’re quite docile snakes, hardly ever biting people, and only rarely using venom when they do.īut if they do decide to bite, they use a neurotoxin. ![]() The fangs are positioned at the front of the mouth, just like rattlesnakes, but they’re significantly shorter (at a quarter of an inch long). Not only that, but they don’t have the long and dangerous fangs that rattlesnakes and other pit vipers do. Coral snakes are quite small and short, only reaching 30 inches at most. It’s the origin of the old rhyme, “Red next to black, safe from attack red next to yellow, you’re a dead fellow.” There are plenty of variants, but the point is always the same.Ĭoral snake venom is exceptionally dangerous-although the snakes themselves are very placid. The yellow bands only touch the black bands. In coral snakes, the thin yellow bands touch the red bands.22:235-258.Īccount Author: Christina Baker, University of Georgia – edited by J.D.The eastern coral snake is the one with red, black and yellow stripes. sauritus), and Butler 's Garter Snake ( Thamnophis butleri) in mixed populations. sirtalis), the Ribbon Snake ( Thamnophis s. Comparative Ecology of the Common Garter Snake ( Thamnophis s. Species is protected throughout the state of Georgia.Ĭarpenter C.C. In our region and are not protected throughout most of it. Ribbon snakes are viviparous, with females giving birth to live young in the late summer.Ĭonservation Status: Ribbon Snakes are considered common After reproduction the male inserts a copulatory plug to prevent other males from mating with that particular female. Habits: Ribbon snakes eat small fish and amphibians and often swim in water near the shoreline. Ribbon snakes are semiaquatic and are frequently found at the edges of lakes, bogs, and salt marshes. sackenii is found in southern portions of our region and throughout most of Florida. In our region, they are found in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, but become progressively more common from the Mountains to the Coast. Range and Habitat: Eastern ribbon snakes are found throughout the eastern US, but are absent from much of the Appalachian Mountains. sauritus, of which two occur in Georgia and South Carolina: Thamnophis sauritus sauritus and Thamnophis sauritus sackenii (middorsal stripe of this subspecies is less distinct). They have a plain yellowish belly, and keeled scales. Ribbon snakes resemble the closely-related eastern garter snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis), however ribbon snakes are generally more slender, have unpatterned lip scales, and the lateral stripes are found on scale rows 3 and 4 (in garter snakes they are on rows 2 and 3). Between the yellow lateral stripes and the belly there is a brown lateral stripe. They have three light, usually yellow, stripes (two along the sides and one down the center of the back) against a dark background. Willson unless otherwise notedĭescription: Ribbon snakes are slender snakes that range from 16-28 in. ![]() Eastern Ribbon Snake ( Thamnophis sauritus)
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