What the State Snakes Should Be: Part II - Reptilenesia

Several weeks ago, I debuted Part I of 'What the State Snakes Should Be', inspired by 'The State Birds: What They SHOULD Be' from thebirdist.com. With apologies for the late follow-up (I've been on vacation), I now present...

These large, harmless, common snakes are known for their loud hiss, which they augment using a flap of skin on the end of their windpipe. They also rattle their tail against dry leaves in order to intimidate their would-be predators. Also known as gophersnakes or blowsnakes, they are commonly mistaken for rattlesnakes, which they superficially resemble. Bullsnakes are found throughout the plains of central and eastern Montana, as well as in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana. Appropriate to Big Sky Country, bullsnakes are among the longest of North American snakes, reaching incredible lengths of 9 feet as adults! Radiotelemetry studies have found that individuals spend up to 90% of their time in underground burrows, so these snakes must be quite abundant in areas where they are frequently encountered.

Known for its nightlife, the Silver State is well-represented by Nightsnakes, which are secretive residents of deserts throughout the west. Nightsnakes are nocturnal, as evidenced by their vertical pupils, and eat lizards and amphibians, as well as lizard and snake eggs on occasion. They are most active on moonless nights after rain. Few people will have seen a Nightsnake, but they occur throughout Nevada. I also heard that the Nevada Nightsnakes might be a competitive team against the Mississippi Mudsnakes this year.

Eastern Hognoses are well known for their elaborate anti-predator behavior, which involves vomiting, defecating, and flipping over onto their backs. Research in the southern part of the Granite State has shown that prey likely limits their distribution in the northeast, as they are found on barrier islands with small amphibians but not those without. A recent radio-telemetry study at the New Boston Air Force Station revealed much about the habitat preferences of these snakes. Overall optimal habitat was identified as hemlock forests having continuous canopy and understory architecture interspersed with fine-scale openings, in close proximity to wetlands and with a high density of leaf litter, debris, and rocks as well as homogeneous surface temperatures within critical thermal limits. Eastern Hognoses mostly eat amphibians and occur in two color phases, dark and patterned.

Much of the pioneering research on pinesnake biology has taken place in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. We know a lot about the surprisingly social lives of these large snakes - for instance, they communally bury their eggs in habitual spots used year after year by the same females. Pinesnakes prefer sandy, well-drained soils such as those in the the New Jersey Pinelands, which may provide residence for some of the largest populations of pinesnakes in the Northeast. Their reputation as ornery is mostly undeserved, much like that of their fellow Garden State residents (something I can admit despite having been born in neighboring New York).

31. New Mexico. New Mexico Blindsnake (Rena dissectus)

Having just been to New Mexico, I know first-hand that there are a lot of snakes there to choose from. In the interest of representing the widest range of phylogenetic diversity, I decided that the New Mexico Blindsnake should represent the state, in part because I was fortunate enough to find one while I was there (my first wild scolecophidian!) and in part because they can be found in only a few states in the US. These diminutive serpents eat ants and termites and burrow in loose soil. This species was discovered by E. D. Cope in 1896 along a road to a silver mine at Lake Valley, New Mexico. Runners up: Narrow-headed Gartersnake (Thamnophis rufipunctatus), Mexican Gartersnake (Thamnophis eques), Chihuahuan Nightsnake (Hypsiglena jani), New Mexico Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi obscurus).

You might think the Empire State would be better typified by a grander snake, but there are several good reasons that Brownsnakes are special to New Yorkers (or should be). The first specimen of a Brownsnake was collected in New York by Dr. James DeKay, a zoologist and author of the 1842-1844 book Zoology of New York. He found the snake while it was ""swimming across a large bay on the Northern coast of Long Island." John Holbrook, the father of North American herpetology, named the snake for DeKay, making it the only North American snake whose name is a double patronym (the genus Storeria being in honor of David Storer, a Massachusetts herpetologist; see Massachusetts).

Southern Hog-nosed Snakes aren't doing too well throughout most of their range. Habitat destruction and degradation, fire ants, and mortality on roads are among their major threats. The Sandhills of North Carolina are their stronghold, and we'd like to keep it that way. The North Carolina Herp Society supports Project Simus, a non-profit research program with the goal of monitoring Southern Hognoses in NC and learning more about their biology through radio telemetry and other techniques. North Carolina recently named a State Frog, a State Salamander, and a State Marsupial, so a State Snake could be next! Runners up: Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake (the beautiful red phase) or Outer Banks Kingsnake or Carolina Watersnake (both endemic subspecies found in the barrier islands).

These small and interesting snakes were originally slated for Indiana, until I learned that not only were many of the seminal studies of them carried out in the Buckeye State and that they are named for an Ohio politician, malacologist, and co-founder of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Jared Potter Kirtland. Kirtland's Snakes are found only in the midwest, where they inhabit crayfish burrows. Because of the intensive agriculture that dominates rural areas of Indiana and other midwestern states, some of the best known Kirtland's Snake populations are found in urban areas. Runners up: Lake Erie Watersnake (an endemic subspecies), Black Racer (actual State Reptile).

Much maligned symbol of the west, Western Diamondbacks are in much better shape than their slightly larger eastern cousins, in spite of heavy collection in some areas for use in rattlesnake roundups (festivals with the express purpose of executing as many rattlesnakes as possible in the misguided belief that this somehow makes people in the surrounding area safer). Corporate sponsorship and economic contributions to local economies have helped these festivals persist in the Sooner State and others, much to the detriment of wild rattlesnake populations. In fact, Western Diamondbacks and other rattlesnakes are not nearly as dangerous as cars, cigarettes, dogs, or many other things that people willingly accept as part of their lives. Granted, if one bites you you'd best get to the emergency room sooner than later, but they hardly deserve their vicious reputation, and confer many benefits to those with whom they share the landscape, including pest control.

Although these snakes can be found in every state except Arizona, Hawaii, and Alaska, I have never seen more beautiful Common Gartersnakes than those in Oregon. Add that to the incredible coevolutionary relationship between these snakes and their toxic newt prey discovered in Oregon, and you have a good recipe for a state snake. Common Gartersnakes are capable of resisting the neurotoxic effects of tetrodotoxin, which paralyzes the muscles and nerves of most other predators. More resistant gartersnakes live in areas where newts are more toxic, are more brightly colored, and crawl more slowly.

It's tempting to put this smallest eastern snake for Rhode Island, but because it was discovered in the Keystone State by the famous Philadelphian and entomologist Thomas Say in 1824, I think it's more apt for Pennsylvania. Say described its opalescent scales and called it "a very pretty and perfectly harmless serpent," noting that "it is found beneath stones and prostrate logs, but not very frequently." Wormsnakes eat invertebrates and so are beneficial to have in and around your garden. Runner-up: Narrow-headed Gartersnake (Thamnophis brachystoma), found almost exclusively in Pennsylvania.

At least in the east, these snakes are small, with gorgeous yellow color beneath marked with black spots. Farther west, they are orange or red instead. The yellow ring around the neck gives the species its name. Described by Linnaeus in the 11th edition of his Systema Naturae, it was one of the first species of North American snakes known to European biologists. Ringnecks are usually found close to water underneath rocks and logs, although they rarely swim. Rhode Islands's many historic stone walls are ideal habitat for this species. Eating salamanders and invertebrates, these snakes are harmless and beneficial. Don't miss the playoff game between the Rhode Island Ringnecks and the Nevada Nightsnakes!

The Cornsnakes of the famous Okeetee Club of southern SC are famed for their bright colors. Popular pets, these snakes have been bred in captivity to produce a variety of color morphs not found in the wild. Cornsnakes eat lizards and small mammals and are named for their highly contrasting ventral pattern, which resembles an ear of Indian corn. Carl Kauffeld first wrote of the Okeetee Club in his book Snakes and Snake Hunting, wherein he recounts several of his experiences trying to find cornsnakes in their natural habitats.

These rattlesnakes are fairly common in the Great Plains of the central USA wherever rocky outcrops (including man-made ones such as railroad track beds) provide suitable hibernation sites. They are closely related to Western Rattlesnakes (see Wyoming), with which they shared a common ancestor about 9 million years ago. Following their rise, the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains fell over central North America, causing a drying of the climate that led to the gradual replacement of open woodlands by prairie. Differentiation of the eastern form involved isolation plus adaptation to the expanding grasslands east of the Rocky Mountains. Today Prairie Rattlesnakes are common across the western two-thirds of South Dakota, where they prey heavily on rodents.

Rough Greensnakes are beautiful denizens of riparian woods throughout the Volunteer State. They were first recorded from "Carolina", which included Tennessee at the time. Also known as vine snakes, these arboreal, camouflaged snakes eat insects and spiders. Because they are so well-camouflaged, the best way to spot them is often at night using a flashlight. Difficult to keep in captivity, I would volunteer to study these any time, as they are among the most graceful and popular of snakes.

Texas has 85 species of snakes, more than any other state. I thought that Texans would like to have the longest or largest snake for their state snake (they'd probably call it their national snake), but both, as well as the largest rattlesnake, are more iconic of other places. As such, they will have to do with one of the most beautiful and coveted, the Gray-banded Kingsnake. These secretive snakes are found only in dry, rocky areas of the Trans-Pecos and Chihuahuan regions of the state, where they are active at night. Although popular in the pet trade, very little is known about the ecology of these snakes in the wild. Much of their habitat is inaccessible, made more so by strict laws regulating the recreational pursuit of snakes (herping or snake-hunting) in the state of Texas. Runners-up: Speckled Racer (Drymobius margaritiferus), Concho Watersnake (Nerodia paucimaculata), Brazos Watersnake (Nerodia harteri), Texas Indigo Snake (Drymarchon corais).

Because I currently live in Utah, I can attest to the ubiquity of these snakes almost throughout the state. So named because of their propensity to stray far from water, Wandering Gartersnakes have something in common with the early Mormon settlers of the Beehive State, who emigrated from their original homeland in New York through the Midwest to eventually end up in what is today Utah. Wandering Gartersnakes eat fish, frogs, and small mammals, and lack the resistance of some of their congeners to newt toxin because they do not co-occur with newts over much of their range.

Familiar to many in the eastern US, ratsnakes are on the ropes in Vermont. Records from the west-central part of the state date from recent decades, with possible isolated populations in other areas of the Green Mountain State (though these records could represent releases of captive animals). Ratsnakes have been designated a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Vermont’s Wildlife Action Plan. Popular in captivity, we are just beginning to learn about the ecology of wild ratsnakes, which are highly accomplished climbers and important nest predators. Their communal nesting ecology at high latitudes and their intriguing foraging and social behaviors are likely just the tip of the iceberg.

Virginia valeriae

These small brown snakes come in two types, rough and smooth. The Rough Earthsnake (Virginia striatula) is found in the southeastern part of the state, whereas the more widespread Smooth Earthsnake (Virginia valeriae) is found across the eastern two-thirds, and also in isolated populations in the western tip. Virginia also shares with adjacent states an unusual population of Smooth Earthsnakes, called Mountain Earthsnakes (V. v. pulchra or, sometimes, simply V. pulchra), found in high-altitude glades in Highland County, Virginia, and adjacent WV, MD, and PA. Mountain Earthsnakes have scale characteristics intermediate between the other two, although they are more closely related to Smooth Earthsnakes.

Sharp-tailed Snakes are small and locally common. They are named for the needle-like spine on the end of their tail, which nevertheless is not actually very sharp and with which they certainly cannot harm a human. This is a good snake to have around your garden, as they eat slugs and other invertebrates harmful to plants. Sharp-tails are mostly found in Oregon and California, but an isolated population occurs in central Washington, where dozens of individuals can sometimes be found together underneath cover objects. Sharp-tailed Snakes may turn out to be more widespread in Washington, especially since they were first discovered in 1852 by members of the U.S. Exploring Expedition near Puget Sound, a region from which no further specimens have been found. Perhaps state snakehood would promote further exploration.

Kudos to West Virginia for choosing a snake for their state reptile in real life! As a reward, they get to keep it. The Timber Rattlesnake isn't an inapt choice, as they are found in mountainous forests almost throughout the state, wherever suitable overwintering habitat exists. A recent analysis of the diet of Timber Rattlesnakes in the northeastern US suggested that they may help regulate tick populations through consumption of their mouse hosts, thereby probably reducing the risk of human exposure to Lyme disease and other tick-borne pathogens. Runner up: the other (Rough) Earthsnake (Virginia striatula).

Thamnophis butleri

Butler's Gartersnakes are found in open-canopy wetlands in the southern Great Lakes region. In reality, enough Wisconsinites dislike Butler's Gartersnakes for getting in the way of development in the Milwaukee area that it's got about as much of a chance of getting chosen as the state snake as the Spotted Owl has of becoming the state bird of Oregon. However, efforts to manage and preserve the remaining habitat might just succeed, and could be significantly helped along by placing a little more value on these little snakes. In the land of visionary land manager Aldo Leopold, I agree with this One Wisconsin Now blogger that good stewardship should trump special interests when it comes to Butler's Gartersnakes.

Crotalus oreganus

These relatively small rattlesnakes are fairly common in the arid west anywhere that rocky outcrops provide suitable hibernation sites. They are closely related to Prairie Rattlesnakes (see South Dakota). These two species shared a common ancestor about 9 million years ago, populations of which were separated by the rise of the Colorado Plateau during the Miocene epoch. Volcanic activity in the southern area of the plateau prevented contact between the two populations. Further differentiation of the western form into six subspecies involved adaptation to various cooler climates west of the Rocky Mountains. The subspecies that occurs in the Cowboy State today is the Faded Midget Rattlesnake, a diminutive snake with a somewhat subdued pattern.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS