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Hi,
I was hoping someone might be able to identify this snake for me. We saw it yesterday in Europe Bay Woods Natural Area in Door Co. Prettiest snake I ever saw. It was only about 9″ long, a beautiful bright rust color, but with a dark brown head.
Any help appreciated. I looked through the DNR’s pics of the 22 species in WI and none of them seemed to match.
Thanks
Even though it does not look like the picture on the DNR PDF, it does sound like a Brown Snake. Here is a description that I found.
A very small tan snake with two parallel rows of tiny dark spots down the back; found most commonly in southern three-quarters of Wisconsin, in dense ground vegetation and debris.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, that sounds like a possibility. Here are a couple close-ups. The rust color was so rich, it looked like velvet. There was a lot of decaying wood in the area (Cedar, I’d guess) and this snake matched it perfectly.
Certainly looks like this guy…
http://www.dekaysbrownsnake.com/@Team Black-Cat wrote:
Certainly looks like this guy…
http://www.dekaysbrownsnake.com/Yes it does, except for the difference in the head. Markings are also not as defined. I wonder if this is a young one.
Just found these pictures of some young ones. The head is a different color on them.
Our guess: Northern Red-bellied Snake.
http://deadlykingdom.blogspot.com/2011/09/northern-red-bellied-snake.html
Description for kids: http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Storeria_occipitomaculata/
I think I’m going to side with the puffins. That’s what I thought when I saw the first picture.
When I was a kid we called them firebellies, but I would agree with puffins too, its a red belly
Thank you! Yes, the 2nd pic of the Northern Red-bellied that huffinpuffin sent looks just like what we saw. I believe that’s it. Now I wish we’d gotten a look at the underside, though I wouldn’t have wanted to disturb the little guy.
Thanks all!Snakes are so cool! 🙂
Not all who wander are lost. -J.R.R. Tolkien
Northern Brown and Red-bellied snakes are closely related. Same genus.
Storeria dekayi – Brown Snake
Storeria occipitomaculata – Red-bellied SnakeLooking around, there seems to be a lot of mis-identified picures of both on the Internet.
Interesting. No way to know for sure.
For those who like snakes, here’s a neat little video. This looks like the snake I saw, especially if you watch to the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJq6WYAbBAwAt 2:10 in, it’s obvious which one it is not.
Here is my snake from August 1, at Franzoi Park in the Town of Neenah:
Richard Staffen from the DNR originally thought it was a Redbelly Snake or a Brown Snake. After more research he concluded it was a Northern Redbelly Snake. I have seen one once before but that one was almost black.
Here is my favorite snake I saw this year, a Western Fox Snake at Buboltz Nature Preserve on September 12.
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