Snakes in North Carolina: Venomous and Nonvenomous Species

How many snakes live in North Carolina?

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission currently counts 38 native snake species; some older sources give 37. Ten of them are listed by the state as endangered, threatened or of special concern. The state’s three regions each have their own mix of snakes: the cool, forested mountains in the west, the rolling Piedmont in the middle and the flat, warm Coastal Plain in the east, which includes the sandy Sandhills and the swamps and pocosins near the coast.

The six venomous species belong to two families:

• Pit vipers (five species): the copperhead, cottonmouth and three rattlesnakes. They have a heat-sensing pit between the eye and nostril, a broad head and vertical, cat-like pupils.
• Elapids (one species): the eastern coral snake, a slim, brightly ringed relative of cobras.

Lengths are typical adult ranges; larger individuals occur.

Copperhead: the snake most North Carolinians meet

The copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) is the only venomous snake found in every part of North Carolina, from mountain ridges to coastal islands, and it is common in wooded neighborhoods. It is a medium-sized, fairly stout snake with a plain coppery head. Its pale tan to pinkish-brown body is crossed by darker brown bands shaped like an hourglass or a saddle: narrow along the middle of the back and wide on the sides. Young copperheads look like small adults but have a bright sulfur-yellow tail tip, which they wiggle to lure frogs and lizards.

Copperheads eat mice, voles, lizards, frogs and large insects such as cicadas. They rely on camouflage and usually keep still when a person walks past, which is why most bites happen when someone steps on or reaches near a snake they have not seen. Copperheads cause most venomous snakebites in North Carolina. The bites are very painful and need hospital care, but they are rarely life-threatening. Females give birth to live young in late summer and early fall.

Cottonmouth: Coastal Plain only

The cottonmouth, or water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus), lives only in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain, in swamps, marshes, ponds, ditches, slow rivers and on some barrier islands. It does not occur in the mountains or the Piedmont. Adults are heavy-bodied and usually dark olive, brown or almost black, with a broad dark stripe through the eye. Young cottonmouths are boldly banded and have a yellow tail tip, much like young copperheads.

When threatened, a cottonmouth often coils, vibrates its tail and gapes to show the white lining of its mouth that gives it its name. Field studies show that most cottonmouths try to escape or bluff rather than bite. Outside the Coastal Plain, a snake reported as a water moccasin is almost always a harmless northern watersnake.

Timber rattlesnake (canebrake rattlesnake)

The timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is the largest venomous snake that most North Carolinians are ever likely to see. Adults are usually 0.9–1.5 m (3–5 ft) long, with black, V-shaped crossbands and an all-black tail ending in a rattle. Mountain snakes come in a yellow phase and a dark, almost black phase, and many spend the winter together in rocky dens on sunny slopes. Coastal Plain snakes, often called canebrake rattlesnakes, are pinkish-gray to tan with a rusty stripe down the back.

Timber rattlesnakes once lived throughout the state, but they have disappeared from many developed areas and now survive mainly in large forests. They are patient ambush hunters that coil beside a log for hours waiting for mice, chipmunks and squirrels. Females mature late and may breed only every few years, so populations recover slowly. The species is protected in North Carolina as a species of special concern. Read more in our timber rattlesnake profile.

Pigmy rattlesnake

The Carolina pigmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius miliarius) is the state’s smallest venomous snake, usually 40–60 cm (16–24 in) long. It is gray to reddish with a row of dark blotches down the back, and some North Carolina pigmies are strikingly reddish orange. Its tiny rattle makes a thin buzz that sounds more like an insect than a rattlesnake.

Pigmy rattlesnakes live in the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, in pine flatwoods, longleaf pine savannas and the edges of wetlands. Bites are painful but are generally not life-threatening for healthy adults. The species is listed in North Carolina as a species of special concern.

Eastern diamondback rattlesnake: on the edge of its range

The eastern diamondback (Crotalus adamanteus) is the largest rattlesnake in the world by weight and the heaviest venomous snake in North America. It is thick-bodied, with dark diamonds outlined in cream down its back. North Carolina sits at the northern tip of its range, and the state wildlife agency describes it as extremely rare and found in only a few locations in the southeastern corner of the state.

The diamondback depends on open longleaf pine forests kept healthy by fire, a habitat that has shrunk dramatically. It is listed as endangered in North Carolina, and the Wildlife Resources Commission asks anyone who sees one to report it with a photo rather than approach it.

Eastern coral snake

The eastern coral snake (Micrurus fulvius) is a slender snake with wide red and black rings separated by narrow yellow rings, and a black snout. Its venom affects the nervous system, but it is shy, spends most of its time hidden under leaf litter and sandy soil, and almost all bites involve people handling it.

In North Carolina it reaches the northern limit of its range and lives only in dry, sandy pine and oak habitats in the Sandhills and southern Coastal Plain. It is one of the state’s most rarely seen animals and is listed as endangered. Two harmless snakes, the scarlet kingsnake and the scarletsnake, have similar colors, but their red bands touch black, not yellow, and their snouts are red.

Copperhead look-alikes

Many harmless North Carolina snakes are killed every year because they are mistaken for copperheads. The most common mix-ups are:

• Corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus): orange to red blotches outlined in black, a spear-shaped mark on the head and a black-and-white checkered belly. See copperhead vs corn snake.
• Young eastern rat snake: gray with dark blotches, darkening gradually as it grows.
• Northern watersnake: dark crossbands near the head that break into blotches farther down the body; common in creeks, ponds and lakes in the Piedmont and mountains.
• Eastern hognose snake: stout and blotched, with an upturned snout. It spreads its neck, hisses and may play dead.
• Eastern milksnake and mole kingsnake: reddish-brown blotches on a gray or tan body.

Copperhead bands are hourglass-shaped and do not form separate blotches, but checking details up close is never worth the risk. Watch from a distance or use a photo.

Common harmless snakes in North Carolina

The eastern rat snake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis) is one of the snakes North Carolinians see most often. Adults are glossy black, usually 1.1–1.8 m (3.5–6 ft) long, and climb trees and walls in search of rodents, birds and eggs. The black racer is a slimmer, faster black snake with a white chin that hunts by day and usually flees at high speed.

Other common harmless species include the eastern garter snake, the tiny ring-necked snake with its yellow collar, the small brown DeKay’s brownsnake found in gardens, the eastern wormsnake and the bright green rough greensnake, which lives in shrubs and vines. The eastern kingsnake, a glossy black snake with thin pale chain-like bands, eats other snakes, including copperheads. In the Coastal Plain, swamps hold mud snakes and rainbow snakes, which feed mainly on salamanders and eels.

Rare and protected snakes

Besides the coral snake and the three rattlesnakes, several harmless species are protected. The northern pine snake is listed as threatened. It is usually 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) long, white or tan with dark blotches, and lives mainly in open, sandy pine and oak forests of the Sandhills and southern Coastal Plain. The rare southern hognose snake, a small burrowing snake of the same sandy habitats, is the subject of a state conservation plan.

Snake declines are driven mainly by habitat loss, road traffic and persecution. The Wildlife Resources Commission asks the public to report sightings of rattlesnakes and pine snakes, with a photo, date and location, to help track these species.

When to see snakes and how to stay safe

Most North Carolina snakes are active from about March or April to October, with the most sightings in spring, when they leave their winter shelters, and in early fall. In midsummer, many move at dusk and at night. Good places to watch reptiles from trails include the Great Smoky Mountains, the Sandhills Game Land and the boardwalks of coastal state parks and wildlife refuges.

Venomous snakebites are uncommon and deaths are rare. Across the whole United States, the CDC estimates that about 7,000–8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes each year and about five die. Most bites happen when someone tries to catch, move or kill a snake, or steps on one unseen.

• Leave snakes alone. Keep a wide distance, never try to touch or kill a snake, and give it a clear escape route.
• Watch where you step and reach, especially in leaf litter, woodpiles and tall grass, and carry a flashlight on paths at night.
• If someone is bitten, call 911 immediately and get the person to emergency medical care as fast as possible.