Pine Woods Snake
Rhadinaea flavilata

Photo by RW Van Devender

 

Description: The pine woods snake is small with a shiny golden-brown to reddish-brown back. A faint dark stripe along the center of the back may be seen on this snake. The head of the pine woods snake is dark with a dark line running through the eye. The lip scales above the mouth are usually yellow, giving this snake the name “yellow-lipped snake.” Pine woods snakes’ bellies are white or yellowish.

Feeding/Diet: The pine woods snake has small fangs in the rear of the mouth and injects venom into its prey—usually small frogs and lizards.

Habitat/Range: It inhabits pine flatwoods and oak forests and is often found in rotting logs or under loose bark.

Reproduction: This snake lays 2–4 eggs during the summer.

Miscellaneous: This snake is harmless to humans.

Back to Snakes of North Carolina
Back to Herps of North Carolina

The shaded region represents the range of the pine woods snake in North Carolina.

Photo by RW Van Devender

Photo by RW Van Devender

Photo by JD Willson

Photo by RW Van Devender Photo by RW Van Devender


This website created by: J. Willson, Y. Kornilev, W. Anderson, G. Connette and E. Eskew.
For comments or questions contact M. Dorcas: midorcas@davidson.edu.
M. Dorcas homepage: http://bio.davidson.edu/dorcas
Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina 28035-1719.

Text and maps from: Dorcas, M. E. 2004. A Guide to the Snakes of North Carolina. Davidson College - Herpetology Laboratory, Davidson, NC. – Copyright by Michael E. Dorcas.

Partial Funding for this website provided by a Associate Colleges of the South, National Science Foundation, and Duke Energy.