SNAKESof New York

A Sampler of Our Most Commonly Seen Species

A familiar shape to most people, snakesare legless vertebrates whose long bod-ies are covered with scales. The scalescan be smooth or contain a ridge whichgives the snake a rough appearance. Snakesperiodically shed their skin as they increasein size. There are 17 species of snakes foundin New York State—three are venomous,most are rarely seen.

Snakes are carnivorous and swallow theirprey whole. Depending on the species, theywill dine on everything from earthworms,slugs and insects to small birds, mammals,frogs, salamanders, fish and even othersnakes. While most of New York’s snakespecies kill prey by seizing them with theirjaws and swallowing them whole, a fewspecies, such as the black rat snake and milksnake, may kill by wrapping their bodyaround the prey to constrict it.

Snakes reproduce either by live birth or bylaying eggs in hollow logs, sawdust piles ormulch. The eggs incubate unattended. In thewinter, snakes must retreat to a subterranean(underground) site where they are protectedfrom freezing.

Valued for their ability to kill rodent andinsect pests, snakes are also very interestingcreatures to watch. Most snakes found aroundhomes are seeking food, shelter or mates andwill move on if they can’t find what they arelooking for. While most snakes prefer toretreat or hide quickly when approached bypeople, many will strike at larger prey orthreatening humans. Except for the ven-omous species, snakes’ teeth are quite smalland hardly able to break a person’s skin.

VenomousSnakesWhile New York is home to several species of venomoussnakes, most people will proba-bly never see them. Distinguishing avenomous snake from a harmless onecan be difficult. One characteristicmany look for is the presence of a pitbetween the nostril and the eye, butif you don't know how to identifysnake species and you're close enoughto see the pit, you're too close. A sec-ond characteristic to look for is theshape of a snake's head. Venomoussnakes have broadly triangular heads;however, this characteristic can bedeceiving because many of the non-venomous species can flatten andwiden their heads when provoked,giving their heads a triangularappearance as well. If you're in doubt,leave the snake alone. It will mostlikely move off in a different direction.

However, larger snakes are capable of drawingblood and as such, people should exercise cau-tion around all snakes, whether venomous ornot. Being careful around snakes not only pro-tects yourself, but protects the snakes as well.

Text by Richard Bothner and Alvin BreischArtwork by Jean Gawalt

Maps by John Ozard (based on NY Amphibian & Reptile Atlas Project)

Design by Frank HerecReprinted from the New York State Conservationist

NYS Department of Environmental ConservationGeorge E. Pataki, Governor Erin M. Crotty, Commissioner

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 thesides. 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. Theyoung, 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 tofour 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 abroad, loose series of rattles that make adistinct 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 ofchipmunks 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

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 lookblotchy. 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 York’s 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 stripes—one on each side andone mid-dorsal. The mid-dorsal stripe can be bare-ly visible and sometimes the sides appear to havea 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.

Black Rat Snake

Common GarterSnake

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 aloud 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 northern water snake is a moderately 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 ofreddish-brown blotches with black edges. Theblotch on the top of the head surrounds alighter-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 WaterSnake

Milk Snake

Hognose Snake