Eastern Wormsnake

Names: Blind snake, blind worm, cricket snake, eastern ground snake, eastern twig snake, little red snake, milk snake, thunder snake.

Average length: 7.5-11 in.

Juveniles: Same pattern, but the “back” is dark brown and the “belly” is bright pink. 

Habitats: Forested areas and fields, or any place they can burrow.

Northern Scarletsnake

Names: False coral snake, milk snake

Average length: 14-20 in. 

Juveniles: Same pattern but the red stripes are pinkish rather than red. 

Habitats: Places where soil is loose, well drained, almost sandy, with pine trees. 

Northern Black Racer

Names: American black snake, American racer snake, black chaser, black runner, blue racer, chicken snake, cow sucker, green snake, hoop snake, horse racer, slick black snake, true black snake, white-throated racer.

Average length: 36-60 in.

Juveniles: Instead, they have a row of dark brown blotches on a light gray-brown body, and the belly has several rows of spots.

Habitats: Open, grassy areas; dry.

Northern Ring-necked Snake

Names: Collared snake, fodder snake, king snake, little black-and-red snake, ring snake, ringed snake.

Average length: 10-15 in.

Juveniles: Patterned as adults but the body is uniformly colored black or blue-black and the “belly” is usually white.

Habitats: Pine forests.

Eastern Hog Nosed Snake

Names: Adder, bastard rattlesnake, black adder, black blowing viper, black hog-nosed snake, black viper snake, blauser, blower, blowing adder, blowing snake, blowing viper, buckwheat-nose snake, calico snake, checkered adder, chuck head, common spreading adder, deaf adder, flat-head, flat-headed adder, hissing snake, hissing viper, mountain moccasin, poison viper, puff adder, red snake, rock adder, sand adder, sand viper, spotted viper, spread-head moccasin, spread-head snake, spread-head viper.

Average length: 20-33 in.

Juveniles: They have the same patterns and colors, but are more of a pinkish color.

Habitats: Sandy soils or fields. 

Northern Mole Kingsnake

Names: Blotched kingsnake, brown snake, ground snake, house snake, king snake, mole catcher.

Average length: 30-40 in.  

Juveniles: Juveniles and hatchlings possess a series of chestnut brown dorsal blotches that are bordered by black. Each has a dark-brown checkerboard pattern on the cream to yellow “belly”, a short reddish eye-jaw stripe, and 2 chestnut to brown stripes on the back of the head.

Habitats: Fields and forests, subterranean.

Eastern Kingsnake

Names: Bastard horn snake, Black kingsnake, Common chainsnake, Common kingsnake, Cow sucker, Horse racer, Master snake, Oakleaf rattler, thunder-and-lightning snake, thunderbolt, thunder snake, wamper, wampum snake.

Average length: 36-48 in.

Juveniles: Patterned as adults. They have thin crossbars and irregular spotting. The division of the crossbars are usually not present, nor are the patches.

Habitats: Occur in a wide variety of habitats, including hardwood forests, mixed pine-hardwood forest, pine forest, abandoned fields, upland portions of swamps, and adjacent freshwater marshes, as well as along creeks and streams in agricultural and urban areas.

Scarlet Kingsnake

Names: None.

Average length: 14-20

Juveniles: The juvenile snakes have lighter yellow rings, but except for that, look exactly like the adults.

Habitats: They are found in pine flatwoods, hydric hammocks, pine savannas, mesic pine-oak forests, prairies, cultivated fields, and a variety of suburban habitats; not unusually, people find scarlet kingsnakes in their swimming pools, especially during the spring.

Northern Watersnake

Names: Banded watersnake, black watersnake, moccasin, mud moccasin, spotted water adder, spotted water snake, water adder, water viper.

Average length: 24-42 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles are patterned and colored as adults.

Habitats: Almost everywhere.

Brown Watersnake

Names: Aspic, false moccasin, great water snake, pied water snake, southern water snake, water rattler.

Average length: 30-60

Juveniles: Juveniles are identical to adults in pattern and color. 

Habitats: This is a highly aquatic species that is associated with large bodies of water, especially rivers, reservoirs, and marshes around bays.

Northern Rough Greensnake

Names: Bush snake, grass snake, green summer snake, green tree snake, green whip snake, huckleberry snake, keel-scaled green snake, magnolia snake, vine snake.

Average length: 22-32

Juveniles: Juveniles are patterned and colored as adults, except that juveniles have a paler green color.

Habitats: They are found in trees, shrubs, hedgerows, and fields with grass cover and small shrubs. Rough Greensnakes are often found in trees and shrubs lining lakes and ponds. 

Eastern Ratsnake

Names: black ratsnake, Alleghany black snake, black chicken snake, black Coluber, black pilot snake, black racer, blue racer, chicken snake, mountain black snake, mountain pilot snake, pilot, racer, rat snake, rusty black snake, scaly black snake.

Average length: 42-72 in.

Juveniles: In contrast to adults, juveniles exhibit a strong pattern of black to dark-brown blotches and peppered black-and-white to gray body. The brown and white “belly” forms a checkerboard pattern. There is a distinct brown stripe that starts in front of the eye and runs to the mouth. These are connected by a brown band across the head. The center of the tail has an irregular dark stripe along each side. 

Habitats:  Eastern Ratsnakes are the most commonly seen snakes in Virginia. They are terrestrial and arboreal. They occur in many types of habitats, including agricultural areas, most types of hardwood forests, isolated urban woodlots, and forested wetlands. These snakes are often found in barns and old buildings where their primary prey, small rodents, occur in abundance.

Red Cornsnake

Names: Beech snake, bead snake, brown sedge snake, chicken snake, fox snake, house king snake, mole catcher, mouse snake, pine snake, red rat snake, red chicken snake, spotted snake, spotted racer, spotted viper.

Average length: 30-48 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles are patterned as adults but often have chocolate-brown to dark-chocolate blotches on a gray to reddish-orange body. 

Habitats: They mostly live underground, but when they do come out live in grassy areas on hills or mountains.

Queensnake

Names: Banded water snake, brown queen snake, moon snake, seven-banded snake, olive water snake, pale snake, queen water snake, seven-striped water snake, striped water snake, willow snake.

Average length: 15-24 in.

Juveniles: Both adults and juveniles are generally grayish in coloration but may range from light brown to olive green. There may be three faint darker stripes running down the body. Two lighter (whitish or yellowish) stripes run down the sides.

Habitats: Inhabits shallow, rocky streams in agricultural, urban, and forested areas, often in open patches that allow sunlight to reach the substrate. Loose rocks are used for shelter, and overhanging vegetation is usually present.

Dekay’s Brownsnake

Names: Brown grass snake, Dekay’s snake, ground snake, house snake, little brown snake, rock snake, spotted adder, spotted brown snake.

Average length: 9-13 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles are uniformly dark brown to black with a narrow cream to yellow collar on the neck.

Habitats: Habitats include hardwood forests, mixed hardwood-pine forests, pine woods, grasslands, early successional stages of abandoned agricultural land, woodlots, and urban areas.

Red-bellied Snake

Names: Brown snake, copper snake, ground snake, little brown snake, little red-bellied snake, red-bellied brown snake, red-bellied garter snake, red-bellied ground snake, spot-neck snake.

Average length: 8-10 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles are uniformly black when born except for the 3 cream to yellow spots on the neck.

Habitats:  Red-bellied Snakes are secretive, terrestrial snakes found in open hardwood forests, mixed hardwood-pine forests, old fields with grass and shrub communities, pine forests, and in woodlots in agricultural and urban areas, as well as along the edges of freshwater wetlands.

Common Ribbonsnake

Names: Little garter snake, saurite snake, slender garter snake, slim garter snake, spotted ribbon-snake, striped water snake, swift garter snake, swift streaked snake, water garter snake, yellow-headed garter snake.

Average length: 18-26 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles are patterned as adults but are brown with bright-yellow or white stripes. The brown color darkens with age. 

Habitats:  Inhabits a wide variety of habitats, including freshwater and brackish marshes, grassy floodplains, streams and ditches with grass and brush margins, wet areas in meadows, sphagnum bogs, and woodlands adjacent to wetlands.

Eastern Gartersnake

Names: Adder, blue spotted snake, broad garter snake, brown snake, Churchhill’s garter snake, common streaked snake, common striped snake, dusky garter snake, first and last garden snake, grass garter snake, green spotted garter snake, hooped snake.

Average length: 18-26 in.

Juveniles: Same as adults.

Habitats: Hardwood and pine forests; lowland and upland grasslands and balds; abandoned fields in various stages of succession; along the margins of creeks, rivers, ponds, and lakes; agricultural and urban areas; and freshwater marshes.

Eastern Smooth Earthsnake

Names: Blaney’s snake, brown worm snake, eastern gray snake, gray snake, ground snake, smooth brown snake, spotted ground snake.

Average length: 7-10 in.

Juveniles:  Juveniles are patterned and colored as adults at birth. A dark line in front of the eye is present. There is no light collar behind the head. 

Habitats: Inhabits hardwood forests, mixed hardwood-pine forests, pine woods, abandoned fields in various stages of succession, dry upland ridges, pastures, urban and suburban woodlots, forest-field ecotones, and moist lowlands. 

Northern Cottonmouth

Names: Water moccasin, black moccasin, black snake, blunt-tail moccasin, congo, copperhead, cottonmouth water moccasin, cotton-mouthed snake, gapper, highland moccasin, lowland moccasin, mangrove rattler, moccasin, water viper, rusty moccasin, saltwater rattler, stub-tail, stump moccasin, stump-tail viper, swamp lion.

Average length: 30-48 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles are patterned like adults but are brighter, with more noticable crossbands. The background color may be pinkish and the bright, yellow tail tip is always present.

Habitats: Found in swamps, freshwater and marshes, ditches, streams, rivers, and forested and grassland habitat, as well as ponds. When out of the water, Northern Cottonmouths often lie under vegetation, in grasses, or under boards and other shelters. 

Venom ferocity: People rarely die if bitten, but because its bite destroys tissue, it can leave scars.

 

Timber Rattlesnake

Names: American viper, bastard rattlesnake, black rattlesnake, common rattlesnake, eastern rattlesnake, great yellow rattlesnake, mountain rattlesnake, northern banded rattlesnake, northern rattlesnake, pit viper, rock rattlesnake, velvet tail, yellow rattlesnake.

Average length: 30-60 in.

Juveniles: Same pattern as adults, but have a brown or pinkish color to them.

Venom ferocity: They are more docile then other rattlesnakes, but they will bite you if bothered or attacked. Their bite is rarely fatal, but if it’s not treated, severe medical problems may appear, or can be fatal. 

Habitats: Found in pine and oak forests, shrubs, grassy fields, and canefields.

 

Southeastern Crowned Snake

Names: Ground snake, southeastern black-headed snake, Tantilla, Tantilla snake.

Average length: 8-10 in.

Juveniles: Juveniles look the same as adults.

Habitats: Dead pine forests with decaying logs, branches, trees, and plants in them.

Mountain Earthsnake

Names: None

Average length: 11 in. 

Juveniles: They are the same as adults but have a dark line in front of the eyes.

Habitats: They are found in oak and pine forests and spend most of their time underground.

Northern Pinesnake

Names: Bull snake, black and white snake, carpet snake, chicken snake, horned snake.

Average length: 48-66 in.

Juveniles: Patterned as adults but it’s body color is black on white.

Habitats: They are rarely seen because they stay underground for most of the time but people who have seen them were in the mountains, on hills, and slopes with rocky cover over them.

Smooth Greensnake

Names: Common green snake, grass snake, northern grass snake, green grass snake, green whip snake, smooth-coated green snake, spring snake, summer snake.

Average length: 11-20 in.

Juveniles: They look like adults but are a lighter green.

Habitats: Grassy areas.

Plain-bellied Watersnake

Names: Agassiz’s watersnake, copper-bellied moccasin, orange-bellied moccasin, red-bellied black snake.

Average length: 30-48 in.

Juveniles: 4-6 dark bands cross around the middle, and the belly is yellow to cream colored.

Habitats: Swamps, lakes, marshes and other wetlands.

Eastern Glossy Swampsnake

Names: Brown banded leather snake, brown water snake, green queen snake, rigid queen snake, striped moccasin.

Average length: 14-24 in.

Juveniles: Same as adults but the belly is pinkish.

Habitats: Marshes and wetlands.

Eastern Milksnake

Names: Adder, chin snake, checkered adder, chicken snake, cow-sucker, highland adder, house moccasin, leopard-spotted snake, milk sucker, sand-king, sachem snake, thunder-and-lightning snake.

Average length: 24-36 in.

Juveniles: Same as adults.

Habitats: Found beneath boards, rocks, and underground.

 

Rough Earthsnake

Names: Brown ground snake, ground snake, little brown snake, little striped snake, small brown viper, small-eyed brown snake, striated viper, worm snake.

Average length: 7-10 in.

Juveniles: Darker then adults but have a yellow band across the neck.

Habitats: Pine forests, grassy areas, and messy areas, such as a messy backyard.

 

Common Rainbow Snake

Names: Horn snake, mud snake, red-lined snake, red-lined horned snake, red-sided snake, sand hog, sand snake, striped wampum.

Average length: 27-48 in.

Juveniles: Same as adults.

Habitats: Buried in sandy soil, found in freshwater creeks, rivers, and marshes.

Eastern Mudsnake

Names: Checkered snake, dart snake, eastern horn snake, hoop snake, North American red-bellied snake, stinging snake, thunder snake.

Average length: 40-54 in.

Juveniles: Same as adults.

Habitats: Underground in wetlands or near lakes or streams.

Southern Ring-necked Snake

Names: Punctuated viper; ring snake

Average length: 10-14 in. 

Juveniles: Body is black or black-blue and has a white belly.

Habitats: Under objects in pine forests.