What the Provincial Snakes of Canada Should Be

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In case, like many Americans, you need a map

Happy Canada Day! And indeed there is a lot to celebrate, in particular Canada's new liberal government and the positive effects it has had on science and the environment. Three summers ago, I wrote in two parts (I and II) about what the symbolic snakes of each of the US states should be, inspired by the witty and spot-on post 'The State Birds: What They SHOULD Be' from thebirdist.com. In response to a tweet from Canadian Field Naturalist, a journal that publishes ecology, behaviour, taxonomy, conservation, and other topics relevant to Canadian natural history, and because Canadian provinces also have various representative symbols (none reptilian, except for the feathered kind, which I might add are somewhat better chosen than those of the US states), this summer I decided to cover the US's northern neighbor as well. Does Canada even have any snakes, you might ask? In fact, Canada is home to 27 species of snake, which might surprise those of us who have grown up in regions farther south. That's enough for every province and territory to have two provincial snakes, with one left over, although the uneven geographic distribution of species precludes that, as we'll see. I followed the same "no duplication" rule as I did for the State Snakes, but I allowed snakes that had been used as U.S. State Snakes to be used again, because almost all of the species found in Canada had also been used for a U.S. state. Feel free to chime in with your opinion about what your favorite province's snake should be, if it differs from my choice.

1. Alberta. Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis)

Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis)

Alberta, well-known for its dinosaurs, also harbors a fairly substantial diversity of modern reptiles for a place with such long winters. Seven species of snake can be found in the province, but perhaps the most quintessential are Prairie Rattlesnakes. Prairie Rattlesnakes in Alberta occur in shortgrass prairies, dry grasslands, and sagebrush in the southeastern part of the province. At the northwestern edge of their range, Prairie Rattlesnakes in Alberta take 5-8 years to reach sexual maturity, and give birth to 4-12 live young, which are quite large (~11" long; compared to ~9" in the more southerly parts of their range). Females may remain with their young for up to 10 days after giving birth. Historically, Prairie Rattlesnakes were found as far west as Calgary and almost as far north as Red Deer, but the species has declined in many areas due to persecution and habitat loss. Venomous snakes are rarely very popular, but provincial symbol-hood might help establish rattlesnakes as wildlife to be valued rather than pests to be exterminated (and Alberta is already quite progressive about protecting its snakes).

2. British Columbia. Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis)

Sharp-tailed Snake (Contia tenuis)

BC might be my favorite province, principally because of the Nanaimo Bar, a three-layer no-bake dessert created in the eponymous coastal city of Nanaimo. I chose the Sharp-tailed Snake to represent BC because in some ways it resembles a reversed Nanaimo Bar—the dorsal coloration is similar to the graham-cracker-and-almond base, the color of the sides to the vanilla custard center (sort of), and the belly to the delectable chocolate-and-coconut topping. These snakes are found on Vancouver Island, the nearby Gulf Islands, and possibly on the adjacent mainland. These cute little snakes eat slugs, including the infamous banana slugs, which I bet don't taste anywhere near as good as Nanaimo Bars. Descriptions of Sharp-tailed Snakes were first published in 1852 (by herpetologists Spencer Fullerton Baird & Charles Frédéric Girard, who received collections made the decade before in the Puget Sound area), exactly 100 years before the first printed recipes featuring Nanaimo bar ingredients were published in the Women's Auxiliary to the Nanaimo Hospital Cookbook (although I'll admit that's a pretty tenuis connection).

3. Manitoba. Western Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon nasicus)

Western Hog-nosed Snake (Heterodon nasicus)

Even though Manitoba is very well-known for its Narcisse Gartersnake Dens, it has greater snake diversity than several of the other provinces, for which the gartersnake must be reserved. Some of Manitoba's most interesting snakes are Western Hog-nosed Snakes, which are found in sandy areas in the southwestern part of the province. As with other snakes at the northern limits of their range, they have a short activity season—they mate in May and lay 5-12 eggs in late June or early July, which then hatch by August. A study of Western Hog-nosed Snakes in Spruce Woods Provincial Heritage Park, Manitoba, found that they emerge from their burrows on any day when they could achieve a body temperature of at least 29°C (84°F). Like gartersnakes (though not quite to the same extent), these snakes can achieve fairly high densities in certain areas, so I think they could be good candidates for expanding our knowledge of snake ecology and behavior in the wild into phylogenetically-uncharted territory, challenging the statement made by Rick Shine in 1987 that "It's a good thing you Yanks have garter snakes, or you wouldn't have anything to study."

4. Newfoundland & Labrador. Maritime Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus)

Maritime Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis pallidulus)

Newfoundland and Labrador is the only Canadian province without any native snakes. However, in recent years southwestern Newfoundland in the vicinity of St. David's has apparently been colonized by Maritime Gartersnakes, a beautiful subspecies of Common Gartersnake. Although no genetic analyses have been performed, it's likely that this population was founded by individuals shipped across the Gulf of St. Lawrence in hay bales or other cargo from Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island. A poll by the CBC revealed that 12% of respondents thought that the recent colonization was "actually kind of cool", whereas a discouraging 49% of respondents were "not happy about it at all". It's rumored that gartersnakes were purposefully but unsuccessfully released in the St. John's area in eastern Newfoundland decades ago, either by farmers hoping to control rat populations or by someone who brought them back from the mainland hoping to sell them as pets (though both scenarios are likely more urban legend than fact). A string of recent mild winters may have allowed the gartersnakes in western Newfoundland to persist, but the extent to which climate change will enable a Florida-pythons scenario writ-small in Newfoundland remains to be seen. At the very least, this could be a golden opportunity for snake biologists to study what happens when snakes enter an ecosystem from which they have been absent for thousands of years, a rare event even in an age of snake invasions.

5. New Brunswick. Smooth Greensnake (Opheodrys vernalis)

Smooth Greensnake (Opheodrys vernalis)

Soctsman Andrew Leith Adams was an army physician who served in India, Egypt, and Canada during the 1800s. He spent his spare time studying the natural history of these countries, about which he later wrote several books, including his 1873 Field and forest rambles, with notes and observations on the natural history of eastern Canada. In it, he wrote "The Reptiles of New Brunswick are neither numerous nor formidable.", which, compared with the snake fauna he doubtless experienced in Egypt and India, was certainly true. He mentioned several snake species, in particular noting that "One of our most common fangless snakes is the active little green species (C. vernalis)", using the C. to abbreviate the genus Coluber, which Linnaeus had used for practically all snakes except boas and rattlesnakes. This handsome species has also frequently gone by the binomial Liochlorophis vernalis, among a half-dozen other genera into which it has been placed over the years.

6. Northwest Territories. Red-sided Gartersnake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis)

Mating ball of Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis

Red-sided Gartersnakes are the only snakes found in the Northwest Territories, where they achieve high densities near Fort Smith between the southern shore of the Great Slave Lake and Wood Buffalo National Park. Because there are few suitable hibernacula, thousands of individuals share the same den. Long winters and short, cool summers have resulted in a mating system that is unusual among snakes, although it is also possibly the most well-known because it is easily studied. Upon emergence from the in mid-April, snakes spend 2-3 weeks hanging around the entrance, during which time males compete fiercely to mate with females, forming colossal "mating balls". They then migrate over 2.3 miles (3.75 km) to their summer marshland habitat, where they remain until late August, giving birth to litters of young that are relatively small in number (~12 vs. ~19 in Manitboa) and large in body size (191 mm SVL vs. 154 mm in Manitoba). Females in the NWT rarely give birth in two successive years, instead saving up energy from one year in order to reproduce the next. They also mature at larger body sizes (570 mm SVL vs. 527 mm in Manitboa) than snakes further south. I bent the rules a little here since both Newfoundland and the NWT have only T. sirtalis (they have different subspecies, and this species might be split up fairly soon). 

7. Nova Scotia. Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus)

Brown-morph and normal Diadophis punctatus from Nova Scotia
From Gilhen 2011

Ring-necked Snakes are cute little snakes that mostly eat invertebrates, although they have been known to snack on the occasional salamander. In Nova Scotia, they can be found almost throughout the province, and an unusual brown morph occurs, particularly on Big Tancook Island in Mahone Bay along the east coast. According to the notebooks of Harry Piers, an early 20th century naturalist, museum curator, and historian, ringnecks were known to the native Mi'kmaq People as “the worst snake, Um-taa-kum (k)”, although it's not clear why. One communal nest found under a boulder near McCabe Lake in Halifax County contained 117 eggs, which must have been laid by at last 15, and probably many more, females (clutch size ranges from one to eight).

8. Nunavut. Ellesmere Island erycine (Eocene boa)

Drawing of Ellesmere Island erycine vertebra
Dotted lines show best-guesses at broken-off parts
A. Dorsal and B. right lateral view
From Estes & Hutchison 1980

Unfortunately, there are no living wild snakes in Nunavut. Initially I was going to get around this by writing only about the true provinces, but then I found evidence that a 50-million-year-old fossil snake vertebrae was found on Ellesmere Island, above the Arctic Circle at about 78.5° north (find it here at the awesome new Paleobiology Database Navigator). This vertebra belonged to an undescribed species of boid snake probably related to rubber boas, and it was found in an Eocene fossil deposit that used to be a lush river delta and floodplain, with abundant swamps, alongside pike, bowfin, and gar, mud & softshell turtles, alligators, monitor lizards, giant salamanders, and even primates. The single bone is part of the collection of the Canadian Museum of Nature (specimen number 32403) and hasn't been assigned to a species or even a genus because it's broken. Paleontologists are fairly confident that it is an erycine boid based on comparisons made with a half-dozen other extinct genera that probably belong in this group. Recent phylogenies of booids elevate Erycinae to a family, but do not include extinct taxa, so it's difficult to say for sure how these snakes were related to each other and to living species.

9. Ontario. Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis vulpinus)

Eastern Foxsnake (Pantherophis vulpinus)

Ontario has more snake species to choose from than any other province, including seven that are found nowhere else in Canada. At the JMIH meeting in Reno last summer, I posed the question of which one best represented Ontario to herpetologist Jacqueline Litzgus, a native of Ontario and a professor at Laurentian University. She was unhesitant in recommending the Eastern Foxsnake, the only species of snake whose range is mostly in Canada (which perhaps makes it sort of a national snake as well, although the common gartersnake is found in more provinces). Foxsnakes are large constrictors that are closely related to cornsnakes and (slightly less closely) to ratsnakes. They probably recolonized northern North America more quickly after the retreat of the glaciers than most snakes because of their mobility and the flat terrain left behind in the midwest. We once thought that the two species had a disjunct range, with the western foxsnake (formerly P. vulpinus) being found in the USA between the Missouri River and Lake Michigan, separated by a foxsnake-less area in northeastern Indiana and the lower peninsula of Michigan from the eastern foxsnake (formerly P. gloydi), which was found south and east of Lake Huron in Ontario, Michigan, and Ohio. However, a 2011 study used evidence from a single mitochondrial gene to suggest that the Mississippi River seemed to be a more significant genetic barrier and that western foxsnakes east of the Big Muddy in Wisconsin and Illinois were more closely related to eastern foxsnakes than they were to western foxsnakes in Iowa and Minnesota. Because the type specimens for both former foxsnake species were within the eastern lineage, this species became P. vulpinus (the older name), P. gloydi disappeared, and the "new" western foxsnake was named P. ramspotti. Runner up: Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus), because of the town of Missisauga, Ontario.

10. Prince Edward Island. Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)

Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)

Located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Prince Edward Island was formed as a sandstone peninsula 250-300 million years ago. The end of the ice age 15,000 years ago and the retreat of the glaciers laid down glacial till and increased the sea level, disconnecting PEI from the mainland. PEI only has three species of snakes, all of which colonized the island within the last 15,000 years. Despite the fact that no lizards or turtles have been able to make the same crossing, PEI is still way ahead of Québec's similarly-sized Île d'Anticosti, which lies ~190 miles (~300 km) to the north and has no native species of amphibians or reptiles. Of the tiny red-bellied snake, PEI naturalist John Mellish wrote in the 1870s "This variety is numerous, is smaller in size, and seems to be less courageous than some of the other species". Although Mellish got this much right, he was as prone to exaggeration as many modern observers, interspersing his species accounts with tales of snakes charming their prey, swallowing their young, and attacking people. In reality, red-bellied snakes mostly attack slugs, and their peculiar lip-curling display is hardly threatening to a human.

11. Québec. Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

Québec is best emblematized by the Milksnake, which was first described by a French herpetologist, Bernard Germain de Lacépède, in 1789. Lacépède's two-volume masterpiece, Histoire Naturelle, is a classic work in herpetology. Although Lacépède mostly used French vernacular names,  ("le triangle" for the milksnake, after the double triangles on top of its head), he used Linnaeus's Latin binomial system about 65% of the time in a 59-page table in the third section of the second volume, which covered legless amphibians and reptiles. However, because he was not consistent in his use of Latin binomials, the taxonomic community decided in 1987 that the names in volume two were not valid (volume one, which covers turtles, lizards, and amphibians, contains a 3.5' x 1.75' fold-out table that was consistently binomial, so these names remain valid). Four snake names, including Lampropeltis triangulum, were rescued because of their long history of use. The other three (Agkistrodon piscivorus, Langaha madagascarensis, and Python reticulatus) were much longer-used than L. triangulum, which probably wouldn't have made the cut if not for an earlier decision by the ICZN as part of a case involving the mistaken identity of Linnaeus's scarletsnake (Cemophora coccinea) specimen and the name he gave it, Coluber doliatus, which was mistakenly used for the milksnake for over 150 years. The 1967 case invalidated doliatus and fixed triangulum as the specific epithet of the milksnake, which prevented it from later being invalidated with the rest of Lacépède's snake names. In this way the species is somewhat rebellious (in a nomenclatural sense), which I think would please many Québécois.

12. Saskatchewan. Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer)

Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer)

On the first page of one of my favorite novels, Farley Mowat's Owls in the Family, the author describes growing up in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: "When you stepped off the end of the Railroad Bridge you stepped right onto the prairie and there you were—free as the gophers. Gophers were the commonest thing on the prairie. The little mounds of yellow dirt around their burrows were so thick, sometimes, it looked as if the fields had yellow measles." Although I like owls, these days I more often have another gopher predator in mind—the eponymous gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer), also less-aptly known as the bullsnake. These harmless creatures are often mistaken for rattlesnakes, because they have a superficially similar pattern (and they do rattle their tails, although they have no specialized noise-making structure). Confusion over the common name led Edward Abbey or one of his editors to include the scientific name of the eastern indigo snake (aka the blue gophersnake), Drymarchon corais couperi, for the bullsnake in the essay 'The Serpents of Paradise' in the 1968 edition of Desert Solitaire (although it is correct in 1988 edition).

13. Yukon. ?

I hope they find a snake

The Yukon Territory has no living snakes and no snake fossils (yet). This is actually quite ironic, because most living North American snakes crossed into our continent from Asia over the Bering Land Bridge, and some of them almost certainly slithered through what is today the Yukon. It is possible that somewhere in the southern Yukon exists a population of gartersnakes, which are found in the southern NWT and also possibly in the Alaskan panhandle. Three reliable sight records and one specimen (now lost) from remote areas along Taku & Stikine Rivers in Alaska give us hope, although unfortunately neither basin enters the Yukon. Other snake sightings of snakes from Alaska include odd T. sirtalis and T. ordinoides specimens from more urban areas, which almost certainly represent translocations (genetic evidence supports this in at least one case). T. sirtalis are found just 200 miles (320 km) south of the Yukon border in BC. It isn't completely crazy to imagine snakes living at such northerly latitudes; European Adders (Vipera berus) are found above the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia. If nothing else, gartersnakes from British Columbia will probably disperse there eventually if climate change keeps up with predictions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Ben Lowe, David O'Connor, JD Willson, Todd Pierson, Andy Teucher, Michael, Gary Nafis, and Nick Scobel for the use of their photos, to Jackie Litzgus for helping me make the decision about Ontario, and to Gareth Hopkins for introducing me to Nanaimo bars.

REFERENCES

Manitoba Thamnophis on the side of a U-Haul truck

Anonymous. 1987. Opinion 1463. De Lacépède, 1788-1789, Histoire Naturelle des Serpens and later editions: rejected as a non-binominal work. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 44:265-267 <link>

Baird, S.F. and C. Girard. 1852. Descriptions of new species of reptiles, collected by the U.S. exploring expedition under the command of Capt. Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. First part. - Including the species from the Western coast of America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6:174-177 <link>

Brongersma, L.D. 1972. On the “Histoire naturelle des Serpens” by de la Cépède, 1789 and 1790, with a request to reject this work as a whole, and with proposals to place seven names of snakes, being nomina oblita, on the Official index of rejected and invalid names in zoology, and to place three names of snakes on the Official list of specific names in zoology (Class Reptilia). Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 29:44-61 <link>

Crother, B.I., M.E. White, J.M. Savage, M.E. Eckstut, M.R. Graham, and D.W. Gardner. 2011. A reevaluation of the status of the Foxsnakes Pantherophis gloydi Conant and P. vulpinus Baird and Girard (Lepidosauria). ISRN Zoology 2011 <link>

Estes R, Howard Hutchison J, 1980. Eocene lower vertebrates from Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 30:325-347 <link>

Gilhen, J. 2011. The Brown Morph of the Northern Ringneck Snake, Diadophis punctatus edwardsii, on Big Tancook Island, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 125:69-71  <link>

Hodge, R.P. 1976. Amphibians and Reptiles in Alaska, the Yukon, and Northwest Territories. Alaska Northwest Pub. Co.

Larsen KW, Gregory PT, Antoniak R, 1993. Reproductive ecology of the Common Garter Snake Thamnophis sirtalis at the northern limit of its range. American Midland Naturalist 129:336-345 <link>

Leavesley, L.K. 1987. Natural history and thermal relations of the Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus nasicus) in southwestern Manitoba. MS thesis. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Rossman, D.A., N.B. Ford, and R.A. Seigel. 1996. The Garter Snakes: Evolution and Ecology. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma. (Shine quote opens chapter 4, page 55)

West, R.M., M.R. Dawson, and J.H. Hutchison. 1977. Fossils from the Paleogene Eureka Sound Formation, N.W.T., Canada; occurrence, climatic and paleogeographic implications. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology 2:77-93.

Life is Short, but Snakes are Long by Andrew M. Durso is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

What the State Snakes Should Be: Part I

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The 50 United States have various state symbols, including state trees, flowers, songs, drinks, and even fossils. Just over half the states have a state reptile, and none have a state snake (although a few of the state reptiles are snakes). This post was inspired by the witty and spot-on post 'The State Birds: What They SHOULD Be' from thebirdist.com, which struck a chord with me because I've always been underwhelmed by the state birds, many of which are uncreative and absurd. The selection of state reptiles has been characterized by the same lack-of-creativity, bordering on willful ignorance of a state’s unique and endemic biodiversity, as the selection of state birds. In fact, it's probably worse, since most people can at least name several different kinds of birds whereas even distinguishing reptiles from amphibians or fishes (or worms) is apparently beyond many. Perhaps having a state snake would help remedy this problem as well as improve upon the massive and undeserved PR problem faced by snakes in general.

At the risk of catalyzing a scandal on par with my home state of North Carolina's State Fruit Fiasco of 2001, which in an effort not to alienate any of several fruit growing lobbies resulted in an official state red berry (the strawberry), state blue berry (wait for it…the blueberry), and state fruit (the scuppernong grape), I've taken the liberty of choosing a state snake for each of the 50 U. S. states, 44 of which I've been to and almost half of which I've caught snakes in. This was surprisingly hard to do, because some snakes have too many good choices and others have too few. I used the same rules as thebirdist: I didn't repeat any species. Feel free to chime in with your opinion about what your state's snake should be, if it differs from my choice.

1. Alabama. Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)

Crotalus adamanteus

The Eastern Diamondback is iconic in the southeast, appearing on America's first flag, the Gadsden flag (better known as the 'Don't Tread on Me' flag) and in the first political cartoon appearing in an American newspaper (Ben Franklin's 'Join, or Die'). State symbolism of the world's largest rattlesnake might help abate pressure from rattlesnake roundups in Alabama and other states, which have caused declines so serious that this species has been considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

2. Alaska. Northwestern Gartersnake (Thamnophis ordinoides)

Thamnophis ordinoides

Alaska's only got one snake, and I do mean one: a road-killed juvenile gartersnake was found outside of Haines, Alaska, in August of 2005. The poor condition of the specimen prevented a positive identification based on morphology alone, so some of my colleagues including my fellow USU graduate student Lori Neuman-Lee sequenced genes from the snake and identified it as a T. ordinoides. This highly variable species eats mostly slugs. Because the closest known population of Northwestern Gartersnakes is over 600 miles south of Haines, the snake might have been transported there accidentally. However, reports of gartersnakes on the banks of the Taku and Stikine rivers in Alaska, including one ostensibly vouchered (now lost) specimen, keep the door open for future discovery of a naturally occurring population of snakes in The Last Frontier. Don't lose hope, Alaska! If nothing else, gartersnakes from British Columbia will probably disperse there eventually if climate change keeps up the way it's been going.

3. Arizona. Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi)

Crotalus willardi

This actually is the state reptile of Arizona! Way to go, Arizona! This snake is a phenomenal choice for its beauty and uniqueness. Principally a Mexican species, it is found in scattered, isolated "Sky Island" mountain ranges separated by uncrossable desert. Former Staten Island Zoo reptile curator and herping godfather Carl Kauffeld, in his classic 1957 memoir Snakes and Snake Hunting, called this species "sublime" and said of finding one that "no greater triumph is possible". It was the last rattlesnake species discovered in the United States, in  1905 (just as the "Baby State," as it was once known, was one of the last states to enter the union, seven years after C. willardi was discovered). These small rattlesnakes grow to be only one to two feet long and as a result are relatively unthreatening. Few bites have been recorded, none serious, although I wouldn't go picking one up. Runner up: Glossy Snake (Arizona elegans), which shares its genus name with the state.

4. Arkansas. Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Agkistrodon piscivorus

When I asked my colleague Geoff Smith, a native Arkansan, about snakes iconic to Arkansas, he first informed me that, as someone born above the Arkansas River, he was an Arkansawyer rather than an Arkansan. He went on to suggest that the Cottonmouth was a good choice because every snake someone sees in Arkansas is identified as a Cottonmouth (a joke that is all too true, poor Nerodia). He also suggested some similarities between Arkansans and Cottonmouths: they stink¹, they're fat, they like to eat fish. I decided not to contradict him because 1. I haven't been to Arkansas, and 2. he's from there so he can say that. In the end, we decided that a generalist state needed a generalist snake. Because Arkansas' diverse landscapes encompass the range edges of many species that are more characteristic of other places (for example, Queensnakes, Coralsnakes, and Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnakes can all be found in the state), choosing a widespread generalist is appropriate. I know of few better examples than the Cottonmouth, a denizen of river swamps that eats a variety of other vertebrates. Furthermore, Cottonmouths might have the worst PR problem of any snake: in addition to being misidentified, they suffer from exaggerated accounts of their aggression, size, breeding habits and even basking behavior ("A Water Moccasin tried to get in my boat!"). State snakehood might help with that.

5. California. Giant Gartersnake (Thamnophis gigas)

Thamnophis gigas

This largest of gartersnakes is endemic to California's Central Valley, where it historically occupied tule marshes but today persists mostly in rice fields and their associated canals and drains, where it mostly eats introduced fishes and Bullfrogs. Because of the massive agricultural use of this area, this species has lostmuch of its habitat and is on the edge of extinction, so it could use some positive PR. It is highly aquatic, with habits more similar to eastern Nerodia watersnakes than to its  western congeners - the same could be said of many Golden State residents in terms of their political opinions and attitudes.

6. Colorado. Great Plains Ratsnake (Pantherophis emoryi)

Pantherophis emoryi

Once considered a western subspecies of the Cornsnake, Great Plains Ratsnakes were re-elevated to full species status in 2002 by College of Staten Island snake taxonomist Frank Burbrink. Although Colorado's majestic landscapes are home to many beautiful snakes, not one but two geographically-separated forms of Great Plains Ratsnakes are found in the state: the larger, more brightly colored nominate subspecies in the high plains and tablelands of southeastern Colorado, and the smaller, drabber Intermountain Ratsnake (P. e. intermontanus) on the Colorado Plateau in the west-central part of the state. Originally named by Baird & Girard for surveyor and U.S. Army officer William H. Emory, these large constrictors are more subtly colored than other ratsnakes but just as harmless and beautiful.

7. Connecticut. Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon)

Nerodia sipedon

Northern Watersnakes are some of the most common snakes in eastern North America. Found in almost every aquatic habitat, they are frequently seen basking on fallen logs, from which they will drop into the water at the slightest provocation. Leo Finneran reported this species from the Branford area in the 1940s, saying that it was "a very common snake occurring along water bodies in all parts of the town" and noting that some carried heavy loads of parasites, which is common in watersnakes. You can remember how to tell this species from its southern counterpart because the bands across its back fail to connect near the tail. OK, I'm stretching a bit for this one. Keep reading, it gets better.

8. Delaware. Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)

Agkistrodon contortrix

Delaware was the first state, and the Copperhead is the first snake you should learn to identify if you live within its range. Delaware's Brandywine Valley is reminiscent of New England, whereas its middle and lower parts resemble the tidewater South. Both regions are inhabited by Copperheads, which are found from New York to Texas, where they are the most common venomous snakes in many suburban areas. Due to the high encounter rate, more than a third of U. S. venomous snakebites are from Copperheads. Fortunately, they seldom require antivenin, because they have the least potent venom of any North American viper, and the fatality rate is negligible. Furthermore, the vast majority occur when someone deliberately attempts to handle or kill the snake. In this way, Copperheads and their relatives are distinctly "antiwar," eponymous as they are of the vocal antebellum Democrats that once represented Delaware and other Union states in Congress.

9. Florida. Eastern Coralsnake (Micrurus fulvius)

Micrurus fulvius

Florida as a state is unlike any other U. S. state. Coralsnakes are unlike any other North American snakes - they are more closely related to cobras and sea snakes, which live on other continents or in the oceans. They're also brightly colored, like the iconic pink flamingos often seen on Sunshine State lawns. Coralsnakes spend most of their time underground and are difficult to find. When asked how to see one in the wild, most herpers reply: "Go to Florida." Although Coralsnakes are quite venomous, they are secretive and non-aggressive, so very few Coralsnake bites ever occur. Runners up: Short-tailed Snake (Lampropeltis [Stilosoma] extenuatum) or Rim Rock Crowned Snake (Tantilla oolitica), both endemic to the state.

10. Georgia. Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi)

Drymarchon couperi

The largest snakes in North America and literal "lords of the forest" (from the Greek drymos: forest and archos: commander), Eastern Indigo Snakes are in decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Georgia boasts some of the best remaining indigo habitat (both Fort Stewart and Fort Benning harbor large, unfragmented tracts of longleaf pine savanna with healthy populations of Gopher Tortoises, the actual Peach State reptile and the burrows of which these snakes depend upon) and the headquarters of the Orianne Society, a non-profit formed to help conserve indigo snakes and other rare reptiles.

11. Hawaii. Yellow-bellied Sea Snake (Pelamis platura)

Pelamis platura

This is the Aloha State's only native snake, making it a pretty easy choice. It's also awesome! Yellow-bellied Sea Snakes are the only pelagic snakes, and the most widely distributed and specialized of the sea snakes. They are most commonly seen in Hawaiian waters in El Niño years, when average water temperatures are in the upper 70s. Pelamis have fast-acting venom that they use to kill fishes. They shed their skin often to remove barnacles, using a knotting behavior to compensate for the absence of objects to brush against in the open ocean. Paying homage, a Scottish tidal energy company adopted the genus name of this snake for both their company and the offshore wave energy converter itself, although the company closed its doors in 2014.

12. Idaho. Rubber Boa (Charina bottae)

Charina bottae

I've written about Rubber Boas before, but man are they cool. Some of the best research on Rubber Boa thermal biology and behavior was conducted in southeastern Idaho, and Craters of the Moon National Monument is a great place to see them. Incredibly, these snakes are active at temperatures as low as 40°F, which is good news for them given that they live in Idaho's mountains. Roughly the same color as a potato, Rubber Boas mostly eat small mammals, which they kill by constriction similar to their larger relatives, which include Anacondas and Boa Constrictors. As is fitting for the Gem State, their small, smooth scales have a rubbery shine.

13. Illinois. Prairie Kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster)

Lampropeltis calligaster

Illinois, like Arkansas, contains many ecoregions but is not dominated by any one that isn't more iconic of elsewhere. There are actually more species of snakes in Illinois than in many southern and eastern states, due to its mixture of northern, southern, eastern, and western ecosystems. I lived here for a while, but it was hard to pick a snake for Illinois because its habitats are so varied. Prairie Kingsnakes are common along Illinois roads and lake shores in spring. Unfortunately, many are run over by vehicles during this time, and still more are mistaken for venomous snakes are maliciously killed. In fact, these large and harmless constrictors are highly beneficial, consuming mice and voles that would otherwise overrun farms, gardens, and homes. In the agricultural desert of the Prairie State, Prairie Kingsnakes are one species that seems to do reasonably well.

14. Indiana. Eastern Ribbonsnake (Thamnophis sauritus)

Thamnophis sauritus

The slender, long-tailed ribbonsnakes share a genus with gartersnakes, from which they are not terribly different. Ribbonsnakes show a preference for wetter habitats and eat predominantly fishes and amphibians. Indiana harbors two subspecies of Eastern Ribbonsnakes, which together are found essentially throughout the state where suitable habitat still exists. Because of the Hoosier State's intensive agricultural land use, a state snake that requires intact wetlands with healthy prey populations could encourage a shift towards sustainable agricultural practices that use minimal pesticide and fertilizer and promote healthy waterways.

15. Iowa. Western Foxsnake (Pantherophis ramspotti)

Pantherophis ramspotti

These large constrictors used to be considered the same species as Eastern Foxsnakes, Pantherophis vulpinus, but were elevated to full species status by Brian Crother and colleagues in 2011. Rapid northward expansion by Foxsnakes from refugia in various southern states following the last glacial maximum has resulted in their odd modern distribution: two species apparently separated not by the gap in the range of the eastern in Michigan but by the Mississippi River. Because they no longer occupy any of the habitat where their fossils are found, it seems that Foxsnakes simply filled in the new habitat made available by the retreat of the glaciers. They had few barriers since the glaciers flattened the topography, and few states beat the Hawkeye State for flat.

16. Kansas. Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum)

Lampropeltis triangulum

The Red Milksnakes of Kansas are like jewels. Essentially fancy kingsnakes, these beauties are easy to find underneath large, flat rocks in prairies and fields almost throughout the state. They eat lizards as well as small mammals and other snakes, which should be easy for them to find since they all live under the same rocks. The late herpetologist extraordinaire Henry Fitch undertook detailed natural history studies of nearly every Kansas snake during his long and productive career, publishing hundreds of articles of the highest caliber, and his 1970 paper on milksnake ecology and natural history is no exception. About as popular as a snake can get, the Red Milksnake (L. t. syspila) is an easy choice for the state snake of the Sunflower State. All those states within the range of the Scarlet Kingsnake (L. t. elapsoides) only wish they weren't also home to so many other strong contenders.

17. Kentucky. Plain-bellied Watersnake (Nerodia erythrogaster)

Nerodia erythrogaster

Common elsewhere, a threatened subspecies of Plain-bellied Watersnake, the Copper-bellied (N. e. neglecta), is found in isolated spots in the western part of the Bluegrass State, as well as in adjacent areas in Illinois and Indiana. It is the most terrestrial of the ten species of watersnakes in the US, in part because it prefers frogs and toads to the other, more aquatic prey of its congeners. Uniquely among watersnakes, this species may possess resistance to toad toxin. It has been found that, atypically for a watersnake, these snakes tend to choose hibernacula close to wetlands, such as crayfish burrows and muskrat lodges. During spring floods, they are often submerged, but somehow are not drowned or swept away. The presence of these amazing snakes helps justify wetland buffers and adjacent upland conservation as part of the innovative Copperbelly Watersnake Conservation Agreement made between coal mining companies and state environmental groups within the range of the snake, particularly in Kentucky.

18. Louisiana. Louisiana Pinesnake (Pituophis ruthveni)

Pituophis ruthveni

Notable for its large eggs and small clutch sizes, the Louisiana Pinesnake is indigenous to west-central Louisiana and eastern Texas, where it relies strongly on Baird's pocket gophers for burrows and food. The Louisiana Pinesnake is rarely seen in the wild and is considered to be one of the rarest snakes in North America. The demise of the species is due to its low fecundity coupled with the extensive loss and degradation of suitable habitat, the longleaf pine savannas of the Gulf coastal plain. Now nearly a lost cause, some positive PR could help ensure that the last fragments of longleaf pine are preserved in perpetuity, for Louisiana Pinesnakes as well as their other unique flora and fauna.

19. Maine. Smooth Greensnake (Opheodrys vernalis)

Opheodrys vernalis

Although the Pine Tree State has a reputation for being snowy and cold, it is actually replete with snakes, at least in summer along its rocky coast. In the crumbling foundations of homes in old fields live many Smooth Greensnakes, a species that is a good example of the ecosystem services that snakes provide because it eats so many insects and spiders. Only a few species of snakes eat insects, this one chief among them. Less arboreal than their rough-scaled congeners, Smooth Greensnakes are quite beautiful and most people seem to know that they are harmless. A ranger in Acadia National Park found them "common" from sea level to above 1000 feet in 1938. Smooth Greensnakes are even found on Isle au Haut, a remote island in the outer reaches of Maine's Penobscot Bay first settled by Europeans in 1792, so it is likely that this is one of the first North American snakes ever seen by Europeans. Isle au Haut is home to Microneta bowditchiae, an endemic spider, which is undoubtedly eaten by the local O. vernalis.

20. Maryland. Queensnake (Regina septemvittata)

Regina septemvittata

Named for Queen Henrietta Maria of France and crisscrossed by myriad freshwater habitats, including the cool crayfish-filled streams preferred by Queensnakes, Maryland is a beautiful but densely-populated state. From the Central Appalachians in the west to the tidal marshes and barrier islands of the Delmarva peninsula and Chesapeake Bay, Maryland seems to represent the entire gamut of eastern North American habitats. Queensnakes inhabit most of these, although they are absent from the lowest and highest elevations and from brackish water. Research has shown that Queensnakes are exquisitely sensitive to the crayfish molting hormone ecdysone. Because numerous stream contaminants are known to imitate ecdysone and disrupt the arthropod molting cycle, this finding may have important implications for the conservation of Queensnakes and their conegners.

21. Massachusetts. Red-bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata)

Storeria occipitomaculata

These little slug-eaters are named for a Massachusetts herpetologist, David Humphreys Storer, who wrote Report on the fishes, reptiles and birds of Massachusetts in 1839. Being one of the original 13 colonies, Massachusetts should show a little appreciation for its herpetological history. In my experience, these snakes are more common in New England's forests than they are throughout the rest of their range, particularly in Maine, which was once a part of Massachusetts. The Bay State gets kudos for actually selecting a group of snakes as their state reptile: the genus Thamnophis, the gartersnakes, is not an inapt choice, although it is a little vague.

22. Michigan: Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus)

Sistrurus catenatus

The Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake has declined dramatically over the last century and is critically endangered in nearly every state where it occurs. Due to human persecution and the nearly complete conversion of native wet prairie habitats to agriculture, this formerly widespread and abundant species is seemingly relegated to just a few viable populations within its historic range in Wisconsin and Illinois. Michigan is its stronghold, and state snakehood might help keep it that way.

23. Minnesota. Plains Gartersnake (Thamnophis radix)

Thamnophis radix

These beautiful gartersnakes are common in the plains of southern Minnesota. In northwestern part of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, the prairie-forest ecotone is characterized by the westward extension of the forests, which terminate roughly along the Big Stone Moraine, from which scattered areas of relict prairie form "fingers" that extend eastward into the woodland. Both Plains and Common (T. sirtalis) Gartersnakes co-occur there, but are not usually found together in high densities, perhaps because the diets of both species consist essentially of the same items: earthworms, minnows, and frogs. Unfortunately, Minnesota's many lakes (the combined shorelines of which exceed those of California, Florida, and Hawaii combined) are too cold, young, and oligotrophic to support any endemic snakes.

24. Mississippi. Mudsnake (Farancia abacura)

Farancia abacura

The Mississippi Mudsnakes has a good ring to it. Found in swamps, which abound in the western part of Mississippi, these gorgeous snakes eat mostly giant aquatic salamanders such as sirens and amphiumas. Seldom seen, their name belies their fabulous coloration, which more than compensates for their clandestine nature. Any state in their range would be proud to honor the Mudsnake with a state snakehood. Mudsnakes prefer still, acidic waters with aquatic vegetation and bottom debris. They also occur along small, acidic streams with swampy edges. Runner up: The Mississippi Green Watersnake (Nerodia cyclopion) shares its name with the state.

25. Missouri. Lined Snake (Tropidoclonion lineatum)

Tropidoclonion lineatum

Little is known about the tiny Lined Snake, a small relative of watersnakes and gartersnakes whose scientific name is longer than it is. Little is left of their original habitat, wet prairies, now mostly converted to agriculture. Lined Snakes, often incongruously misheard as "lion snakes," are secretive and semifossorial. The Forest Park neighborhood of St. Louis, south of the zoo and near the wonderful Turtle Park, was built on a hill during the 1920s and harbors a dense population due to the relatively light disturbance to the area's soil, so many urban residents of this city and others in the Show-Me State could show themselves their state snake by turning over paving stones or garden gnomes in their yard or garden.

Stay tuned, faithful reader, for Part II!

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1 Life is Short but Snakes are Long does not officially endorse the views of interviewed persons.^↩

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to photographers Dave Irving, JD Willson, Todd Pierson, James Turek, Lost Springs Ranch, Jason Folt, David Jahn, Jonathan Mays, Atrox, Eric Vanderduys, and Nathanael Herrera.

Life is Short, but Snakes are Long by Andrew M. Durso is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.