Photo by JD Willson

Description: Brown snakes are usually light brown in color, but may be rather gray or reddish brown. The brown snake typically has a pale stripe running down the middle of its back and has a row of small dark spots on its sides. The belly is whitish and often has black spots along its edges. Brown snakes have rough (keeled) scales.

Feeding/Diet: They are frequent inhabitants of flowerbeds and eat slugs, earthworms, and snails.

Habitat/Range: This snake is common in vacant lots and forested areas and may be found under trash, logs, and rocks.

Reproduction: During the summer, brown snakes give live birth to 4–25 young.

A reddish individual.
Photo by RW Van Devender

A brown snake feeding on an earthworm.
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.