Species
Pine woods littersnake
Rhadinaea flavilata
A small, shiny snake of damp pine woods that hides in the leaf litter and eats tiny frogs.
Photo Josiah Londerée (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- Usually 25 to 33 cm long
- Habitat
- Moist pine flatwoods and hardwood hammocks
- Diet
- Small frogs, lizards and their eggs
- In Georgia
- The southern Coastal Plain
- Venomous
- No
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Small, glossy reddish-brown; pale lips; dark line through the eye
- Told apart from
- Brownsnakes and earthsnakes, which lack the dark eye line and pale lips
- Where to look
- Under logs, bark and leaf litter in pine woods
Behaviour
It is secretive and hunts small frogs in the leaf litter, using a mild saliva harmless to people.
Why they matter
It is one of the lesser-known small snakes of southern pinelands.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Eggs — Usually 1 to 4
Nest — Under cover
Incubation — About 2 months
Hatchlings — Small
Maturity — In two years
Lifespan — A few years
Living around people
- It is harmless.
Misconceptions
- Every small snake is a young copperhead. This one is a harmless adult.
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 | Sheltering | Active on warm days | Active | Active | Mating | Laying | Active | Hatching | Active | Active | Sheltering | Sheltering |
Where it lives
Recorded in 6 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
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