Brown Snake

(Storeria dekayi)

"Northern Brown Snake"

Color Photograph: © Corel Corp.

"Midland Brown Snake"

Color Photograph: Ohio Department of Natural Resources

"Marsh Brown Snake"

Color Photograph: Jeff Boundy, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

Mexican distribution not shown

Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)

Identification: Snake 10 to 20 inches in length. Color various shades of brown to almost gray. A broad, light band along the dorsal part of the body usually edged with darker brown along its two margins. Belly pale yellow to brown or brown-pink with small black dots along the belly's margins. Head with a series of black dots around the eye and the back of the head. Scales smooth and anal plate divided.

Geographical Variation:

Northern Brown Snake (S. d. dekayi): Dark spots bordering dorsal light line separate and distinct; vertical or diagonal black line behind the eye reaching from the temporal scale to the 6th and 7th upper labial (lip) scales. Range: Southern Quebec, Maine and New England in the north and east southward to Virginia.

Midland Brown Snake (S. d. wrightorum): Dark spots bordering dorsal line stripe connected by lines; otherwise as in Northern Brown Snake. Range: Illinois and Indiana southward to southern Mississippi, southern Alabama, and southwestern Georgia.

Marsh Brown Snake (S. d. limnetes): Dark spots bordering dorsal line stripe generally connected by lines; large temportal scales behind eye with a horizontal black line, line not reaching 6th and 7th upper labial scales. Range: Coastal marshes of the Gulf Coast from southeastern Texas in the west, eastward through Louisiana, Alabama, and the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida.

Texas Brown Snake (S. d. texana): No black bar on temportal scales behind the eye but with a dark blotch extending from the nape of the neck downward to the belly scales. Range: Western most populations from Minnesota in the north, southward to Texas and Mexico.

Florida Brown Snake (S. d. victa): 15 scales instead of the 17 scale rows found in other populations; light band across the top of the head. Range: Southeastern Georgia to the Florida Keys.

Range (see map on left): A wide ranging species covering most of the eastern half of the United States. In the north extending from Minnesota in the west to extreme southern Quebec and Maine in the east. In the south reaching from all of Florida in the east westward to eastern Texas and the eastern Great Plains.

Habitat: The Brown Snake is primarily an occupant of wetlands including the margins of ponds, swamps, and bogs. However it is also found in woodlands, vacant lots, and suburban areas such as lawns, gardens, and parks.

Food: Slugs, snails, and earthworms.

Behavior: The Brown Snake is primarily a diurnal species, but may become nocturnal during the hottest days of the summer. It is usually found beneath piles of trash, rocks, or logs.

Reproduction:  This species bears its young live. It mates during the springs and fall and produces 3 to 30 young during the summer moths.

Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi)

Similar Species:

The combination of the light tan to gray color, its small size, and the light dorsal stripes bordered with dark brown will distinguish this species from any other species in the eastern United States.

Similar Species:

No Similar Species