These two Rough Earth Snake were found while doing routine maintenance on our landscaping. These snake are small, nonvenomous, and harmless.

Wikipedia has this to say about the Rough Earth Snake:

The rough earth snake (Virginia striatula) is a species of nonvenomous natricine colubrid snake native to the southeastern United States. It was first described by Carolus Linnaeus in 1766, as Coluber striatulus.

It is found from Texas to Florida, and as far north as Missouri,Virginia and Arkansas.

The rough earth snake is a small, brown, unpatterned snake with lightly keeled scales (which gives it its common name), and a light colored underside. They do not typically grow beyond 10 inches in length, with 7 inches being average. It is easily mistaken for the smooth earth snake, Virginia valeriae, with which it shares range and habitat. The keeled scales of V. striatula are the only way to visually distinguish the species from V. valeriae, which has smooth (non-keeled) scales.

11 Replies to “Rough Earth Snake – Yard Work”

  1. I didn’t know that this was the name of these little guys. I have them in my yard near Casa Linda. One found it’s way into my house luckily for the snake my cats only wanted to play and not kill. It was relocated back to the yard unharmed.

  2. I didn’t know that this was the name of these little guys, either. I have them in my flower beds near Burleson. Glad to know they are beneficial. Will live and let live.

  3. I have found 2 in my kitchen this week, can’t stand snakes, don’t know if there are more, could they have hatched out in my house, how do they get in??

  4. I used to have a ton of these in my yard, but I never knew they were there until I fostered a dog that would kill them. These guys are very docile snakes…not aggressive at all. If you pick one up they’ll usually just hang out in your hand. They only get to be about 10″ long at best.

  5. I always find them in my pool in the morning. Pick them up and put them in the flower bed where they can eat bugs. Great snakes.

  6. I see these all the time on my property in the middle of Little Rock. I usually see them under clusters of leaves or, especially often, in the boxes housing the city water meters when I need to pry the lids off for some reason.

  7. I have found several of these in my house lately. I think my cats bring them in but they won’t kill anything, just stare at them. They are so small I can’t pick them up with my fingers without injuring them so I scoop them into my hand with a piece of paper and take them out to the lawn where they can make their escape.

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