Snakes in Tennessee: Venomous Species and Harmless Lookalikes

How many snakes live in Tennessee?

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) counts 32 native snake species in the state; some guides list a few more because they count subspecies separately. Tennessee’s long east-west shape spans very different landscapes. In the east are the Blue Ridge Mountains, including the Great Smokies, the Ridge and Valley and the Cumberland Plateau. Middle Tennessee has the Highland Rim and the Nashville Basin, and West Tennessee is low, flat country of bottomland forests, swamps and the Mississippi River floodplain.

All four venomous species are pit vipers, with a heat-sensing pit between the eye and nostril, vertical pupils and a broad head. Tennessee has no coral snakes.

Lengths are typical adult ranges; larger individuals occur.

Copperhead

The copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) lives in every part of Tennessee, from mountain hollows to suburban gardens in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis. It has an unmarked coppery head and a pale tan to pinkish body crossed by darker bands shaped like hourglasses: narrow along the spine and wide on the sides. Young copperheads have a bright yellow tail tip, which they wiggle to lure prey.

Copperheads eat mice, voles, frogs, lizards and insects such as cicadas, and they are most active at dusk and after dark in summer. They rely on camouflage and usually freeze rather than flee, so most bites happen when someone steps on or reaches near a snake in leaf litter, mulch or a woodpile. The copperhead causes the most venomous bites in Tennessee, but its bite is rarely fatal, though it is painful and needs hospital care.

Timber rattlesnake

The timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is Tennessee’s largest venomous snake and, according to TWRA, the most dangerous because of its size and venom yield. Adults are usually 0.9–1.5 m (3–5 ft) long, with dark V-shaped crossbands, a black tail and a rattle. Colors vary from yellow and tan to very dark gray, and some lowland snakes show a rusty stripe down the back, a form often called the canebrake rattlesnake.

Timber rattlesnakes live in forests across the state, especially on rocky, wooded ridges in East and Middle Tennessee, where they spend the winter in dens below rock outcrops. They are calm, ambush hunters that coil beside logs and wait for rodents and squirrels to pass. Most will rattle loudly or stay motionless rather than strike. Read more in our timber rattlesnake profile.

Cottonmouth (water moccasin)

The cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus) is Tennessee’s only venomous water snake, and TWRA lists it as a West Tennessee species. It lives in swamps, sloughs, oxbow lakes, slow rivers and flooded bottomland forest, including around Reelfoot Lake and the Hatchie River. Adults are heavy-bodied and dark olive, brown or nearly black, with a broad head and a dark stripe running back from the eye. Young cottonmouths are boldly banded and have a yellow tail tip.

When threatened, a cottonmouth often coils, shakes its tail and opens its mouth wide to show its white lining. Despite its fierce reputation, field studies show that cottonmouths usually try to escape or bluff, and bites mostly happen when people step on or handle them.

Pygmy rattlesnake

The western pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius streckeri) is Tennessee’s smallest and rarest venomous snake, usually 40–60 cm (16–24 in) long. It is gray to light brown with a row of dark blotches down the back, often with a rusty stripe, and its tiny rattle makes a faint buzz that sounds like an insect.

In Tennessee it has a very small range on the western Highland Rim, in a narrow band near the Tennessee River from Stewart County south to the state line. It is listed by TWRA as threatened. Bites are painful but generally not life-threatening for healthy adults.

Northern watersnakes and other cottonmouth look-alikes

The northern watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) is probably the most misidentified snake in Tennessee. It lives in creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes across the whole state, including East Tennessee, where cottonmouths are generally absent. It is brown, gray or reddish with dark crossbands near the head that break into alternating blotches toward the tail, and old adults can look almost uniformly dark, especially when wet. Adults are usually 60–110 cm (2–3.5 ft) long and can be thick-bodied, which adds to the confusion.

Northern watersnakes are not venomous, but they defend themselves vigorously if grabbed, biting and smearing a foul-smelling musk. Learn more in are water snakes venomous? and our full guide to cottonmouth vs water snake. Useful differences, best checked with binoculars or in a photo, include:

• Swimming: cottonmouths float high, with much of the body on the surface; watersnakes usually swim with only the head and neck showing.
• Head and face: cottonmouths have a broad, blocky head, a dark stripe through the eye and a facial pit; watersnakes have narrower heads, round pupils and dark bars on the lip scales.
• Behavior: watersnakes usually drop into the water and swim away; a cottonmouth may stay put, coil and gape.

West Tennessee also has other harmless water snakes, such as the plain-bellied watersnake and the diamondback watersnake, which are mistaken for cottonmouths just as often.

Copperhead look-alikes

Several harmless species have reddish or brown blotches that remind people of copperheads. The eastern milksnake is gray or tan with reddish-brown, black-edged blotches and a checkered belly. Young rat snakes are gray with dark blotches before they darken with age. Corn snakes, mainly in the east and middle of the state, are orange with black-edged red blotches. The eastern hognose snake is stout and blotched with an upturned snout, and it hisses, spreads its neck and may play dead when threatened.

A true copperhead’s bands are hourglass-shaped rather than separate blotches, and its head is plain copper without markings. When in doubt, treat the snake as venomous and give it room.

Common harmless snakes in Tennessee

The rat snake, called the black rat snake or gray rat snake in Tennessee, is one of the state’s most familiar snakes. Adults are usually 1.1–1.8 m (3.5–6 ft) long and climb trees, barns and walls in search of rodents, birds and eggs. The black racer is a slender, fast, glossy black snake with a white chin that hunts by day.

Other common species include the eastern garter snake, the black kingsnake, which eats other snakes including copperheads, the rough green snake of shrubs and vines, and small snakes such as the ring-necked snake, DeKay’s brownsnake and the eastern wormsnake, which turn up under logs, stones and garden debris. The queen snake lives along rocky streams and feeds almost entirely on freshly molted crayfish.

Snakes by region

• East Tennessee: copperheads and timber rattlesnakes are the only venomous species. More than 20 snake species live in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and only these two are venomous.
• Middle Tennessee: copperheads and timber rattlesnakes are widespread, including on wooded hills in parks around Nashville, and the rare pygmy rattlesnake lives on the western Highland Rim.
• West Tennessee: all four venomous species can occur, and cottonmouths are common in swamps and floodplains, alongside many harmless water snakes.

Staying safe around snakes

Venomous bites 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. Tennessee law protects native snakes, and TWRA asks people not to harm them.

• Leave snakes alone and back away slowly, giving the snake a clear escape route.
• Watch where you step and reach in leaf litter, rock piles and woodpiles, wear boots in the woods, and use a flashlight at night.
• If someone is bitten, call 911 immediately and get the person to emergency medical care as quickly as possible.