Species
Pine snake
Pituophis melanoleucus
A big, powerful, hissing constrictor of sandhills and longleaf pine that digs its own tunnels.
Photo Alpha Wolf (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Usually 1.2 to 1.8 m long
- Habitat
- Sandhills, longleaf pine woods and dry, sandy fields
- Diet
- Pocket gophers, mice, rats and eggs
- In Georgia
- The Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont; uncommon
- Venomous
- No
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Large and heavy; pale with dark blotches, darker toward the head in some, rusty in the south; pointed snout
- Told apart from
- Ratsnakes, which are slimmer with flatter heads
- Where to look
- Rarely seen; near sandy burrows
Behaviour
When threatened a pine snake hisses loudly, forcing air past a flap in its windpipe, and vibrates its tail. It digs its own burrows with its pointed snout and hunts pocket gophers underground.
Why they matter
It is a predator of pocket gophers and rodents in pinelands and has declined with the loss of longleaf pine.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Usually 4 to 12, large
Nest — In burrows dug by the female
Incubation — About 60 to 80 days
Hatchlings — About 40 cm long
Maturity — In a few years
Lifespan — Over 15 years
Living around people
- A loud hissing snake is bluffing; give it room.
Misconceptions
- A snake that hisses is venomous. Pine snakes hiss loudly and are harmless.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Underground | Underground | Emerging | Active | Mating | Laying | Active | Hatching | Young active | Active | Underground | Underground |
Where it lives
Recorded in 8 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
Answer a few questions and you will get a specific answer for what you are looking at.
I found an animal