"Eastern Ribbon Snake"

Color Photograph: © by and courtesy of John Mosesso

"Eastern Ribbon Snake"

Color Photograph: U.S. Army

"Northern Ribbon Snake"

Color Photograph: Brookhaven National Laboratory

"Northern Ribbon Snake"

Color Photograph: U.S. Geological Survey

"Northern Ribbon Snake"

Color Photograph: Courtesy of Jonathan Crowe

Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)

Identification: Snake 18 to 40 inches in length. Tail elongate and slender, comprising nearly one-third of the length of the snake. No fused dark spots present on the crown of the head. Body with a light yellow to white dorsal stripe and a yellow to white lateral stripe on both sides of the body. Lateral stripe located on the 3rd and 4th scale rows. Underside of head and belly white. Belly with a dark brown stripe along each of the outer margins. Dorsal body scales keeled and anal plate single.

Geographical Variation:

Eastern Ribbon Snake (T. s. sauritus): Upper body red-brown; lateral stripes yellow and dorsal stripe yellow or green tinged orange. Range: The northern limit of this population runs across southern Indiana, southern Ohio, south and eastern Pennsylvania, and southeastern New York. An extension ranges northward to southern New Hampshire. The population extends southward to extreme eastern Louisiana and eastward to the Florida Panhandle and most of South Carolina.

Northern Ribbon Snake (T. s. septentrionalis): Upper body velvety black or dark brown; lateral stripes yellow and dorsal stripe also yellow, but sometimes suffused with brown. Range: Southern Maine and central New Hampshire, westward through southwestern Ontario and, in general, the region around the Great Lakes including Michigan, northern Ohio and Indiana.

Peninsula Ribbon Snake (T. s. sackeni): Dorsal body tan or brown; lateral stripes yellow, narrow; dorsal stripe tan. Range: Extreme southern South Carolina, southward through eastern Georgia and throughout the Florida Peninsula.

Range (see map below): The Eastern Ribbon Snake occurs from southern Ontario throughout most of the eastern United States, westward to the eastern margins of Illinois to extreme eastern Louisiana.

Habitat: This species prefers aquatic habitats and is most commonly found around marshes, ponds, lake shores, and wet meadows.

Food: Frogs, salamanders, and small fish.

Behavior: The Eastern Ribbon Snake is most commonly found on the plant covered shores of aquatic habitats. It swims readily and moves rapidly across the surface of the water.

Reproduction: Female are live bearing. The species mates in the spring. The young range in number from 3 to 26 and are born in July and August.

Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis sauritus)

Similar Species:

Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)

Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus)