Virginia Snake Identification Guide
The table below is sorted by the Virginia record lengths from smallest to largest.
It is interesting to note that in recorded Virginia history the longest, native snake ever documented was a black rat snake that measured 79.8 inches or just about 6 foot - 8 inches in total length.
|
Common Name |
Average Adult Length in inches |
Virginia Record Length in inches |
Record Length in inches |
Dorsal Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeastern Crowned Snake | 8 - 10 | 9.9 | 13 | Uniformed color |
| Rough Earthsnake | 7 - 10 | 11.6 | 12.8 | Uniform color |
| Eastern Wormsnake | 7 - 11 | 12.6 | 15 | Uniform color |
| Smooth Earthsnake | 7 - 10 | 12.6 | 15.5 | Uniform color |
| Mountain Earthsnake | 7 - 10 | 12.6 | 15.5 | Uniform color |
| Northern Brownsnake | 9 - 13 | 14.9 | 19.3 | Spots |
| Northern Red-bellied Snake | 8 - 10 | 15 | 16 | Stripes |
| Northern Ring-necked Snake | 10 - 15 | 19.5 | 27.8 | Uniform color |
| Southern Ring-necked Snake | 10 - 14 | 19.5 | 27.8 | Uniform color |
| Smooth Green Snake | 12 - 20 | 22.4 | 26 | Uniform color |
| Snakes with a Virginia Record Length | of Over 2 Feet | |||
| Northern Scarletsnake | 14 - 20 | 25.6 | 32.6 | Straight bands |
| Queen Snake | 15 - 24 | 28.1 | 36.3 | Stripes |
| Glossy Crayfish Snake | 14 - 24 | 30.5 | 31.4 | Stripes |
| Snakes with a Virginia Record Length | of Over 3 Feet | |||
| Rough Greensnake | 22 - 32 | 37.3 | 45.6 | Uniform color |
| Eastern Ribbonsnake | 18 - 26 | 38 | 38 | Stripes |
| Eastern Milk Snake | 24 - 36 | 42.2 | 52 | Blotches |
| Eastern Gartersnake | 18 - 26 | 43.3 | 48.7 | Stripes |
| Eastern hog-nosed Snake | 20 - 33 | 44.5 | 45.5 | Uniform color/Blotches |
| Mole Kingsnake | 30 - 40 | 46.8 | 47 | Blotches |
| Snakes with a Virginia Record Length | of Over 4 Feet | |||
| Northern Copperhead | 24 - 36 | 48 | 53 | Hourglass bands |
| Northern Watersnake | 24 - 42 | 54.1 | 55.3 | Blotches |
| Corn Snake | 30 - 48 | 56.7 | 72 | Blotches |
| Red-bellied Water Snake | 30 - 48 | 58 | 62 | Blotches/Uniform color |
| Eastern Mudsnake | 40 - 54 | 58.6 | 81.5 | Blotches |
| Snakes with a Virginia Record Length | of Over 5 Feet | |||
| Eastern Cottonmouth | 30 - 48 | 60.5 | 74 | Hourglass bands |
| Eastern Kingsnake | 36 - 48 | 63.8 | 82 | Straight bands |
| Eastern Black Kingsnake | 36 - 45 | 63.8 | 82 | Uniform/Straight bands |
| Common Rainbow Snake | 27 - 48 | 66 | 68.2 | Stripes |
| Northern Pinesnake | 48 - 66 | 66.1 | 83 | Blotches |
| Timber Rattlesnake | 36 - 60 | 67.1 | 74.5 | Zigzag bands |
| Brown Watersnake | 30 - 60 | 68.7 | 69.5 | Blotches |
| Northern Black Racer | 36 - 60 | 70.7 | 73 | Uniform color |
| Snakes with a Virginia Record Length | of Over 6 Feet | |||
| Eastern Ratsnake (Black Ratsnake) | 42 - 72 | 79.8 | 101 | Uniform color |
Dorsal patterns:
|
|
|
|
|
Straight Bands |
Spots |
Stripes |
|
|
|
|
|
Hourglass bands |
Zigzag Bands |
Blotches |
Illustrations by Mike J. Pinder
Ventral patterns:
|
|
|
|
|
Rows |
Spots |
Checkerboard |
Illustrations by Mike J. Pinder
References:
Behler, John L., King, F. Wayne. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, NY. 743 pages.
Bishop, Sherman C. 1943. Handbook of Salamanders. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 555 pages.
Conant, R. and J.T. Collins. 1998. A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles, Eastern and Central North America. Expanded, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin, Co., Boston, MA. 616 pages.
Dorcas, Michael E. 2004. A Guide to the Snakes of North Carolina. Davidson College. 40 pages.
Ernst, Carl H. and Ernst, Evelyn M. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 668 pages.
Ernst, C.H., J.E. Lovich and R.W Barbour. 1994. Turtles of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 578 pages.
Gibbons, J. Whitfield and Dorcas, Michael E. 2004. North American Watersnakes: A Natural History. University of Oklahoma Press. 438 pages.
Gibbons, Whit and Dorcas, Michael E. 2005. Snakes of the Southeast. University of Georgia Press. 253 pages.
Green, N. Bayard and Thomas K. Pauley. 1987. Amphibians & Reptiles in West Virginia. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA. 241 pages.
Hulse, Authur C., McCoy C. J., Censky, Ellen. 2001. Amphibians and Reptiles of Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 419 pages.
Linzey, Donald W. and Michael J. Clifford. 1981. Snakes of Virginia. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. 173 pages.
Martof, B.S., W.M. Palmer, J.R. Bailey, J.R. Harrison III and J. Dermid. 1980. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 264 pages.
Mitchell, Joseph C. and Reay, Karen K. 1999. Atlas of Amphibians & Reptiles in Virginia. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Special Publication # 1, Wildlife Diversity Division, Richmond, VA. 122 pages.
Mitchell, Joseph C. 1994. The Reptiles of Virginia. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 352 pages.
Petranka, James W. 1998. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 587 pages.
Pinder, M.J. and J.C. Mitchell. 2001. A Guide to the Snakes of Virginia. Wildlife Diversity Special Publication Number 2, Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. Richmond, VA. 32 pages.
Tennant, Alan and R.D. Bartlett. 2000. Snakes of North America Eastern and Central Regions. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, TX. 588 pages.
White, James F. Jr. and White, Amy Wendt. 2002. Amphibians and Reptiles of DELMARVA. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD. 248 pages.
Wright, Albert and Anna. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. 1105 pages.
Wright, Albert H. & Anna A, Wright. 1933. Handbook of Frogs and Toads of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 640 pages.
