Field Guide

The prairie kingsnake is fairly common over most of the state. The overall color is tan, brownish gray, or greenish gray. Numerous dark blotches down the back and sides are brown, reddish, or greenish brown. It lives in prairies, open woods, and rocky, wooded hillsides, statewide.

The eastern hog-nosed snake is a nonvenomous snake that is highly variable in color and pattern. It has an upturned snout and can hiss loudly and spread its neck like a cobra. If this defense fails, the snake may thrash around, open its mouth, roll over, and play dead.

The Great Plains ratsnake is seldom seen. It has numerous brown blotches along the body, a brown eye stripe, and a spearhead marking on top of the head.

The western smooth earthsnake is a small, plain, slightly stout snake. It is generally gray, brown, or reddish brown, with few distinct markings. It occurs statewide, except for the northwestern corner.

Missouri’s largest venomous snake, the timber rattlesnake, is dangerously venomous, but there are few cases of rattlesnake bites in our state. It frequents rough country, is mostly nocturnal in summer, and few Missourians ever encounter it.

The eastern copperhead is the most common venomous snake in Missouri. Its color varies from grayish brown to pinkish tan, with distinctive hourglass-shaped crossbands.

The eastern yellow-bellied racer is uniformly tan, brown, olive, blue, gray, or nearly black on top, with a yellow, cream, or light blue-gray belly. It occurs nearly statewide. The southern black racer subspecies also lives in the southeastern half of the state.

The red-bellied snake is one of Missouri's smallest snakes. It is gray or reddish brown on top, usually with narrow stripes, and bright red or orange below. It occurs nearly statewide but appears to be absent from the northwest and southwest corners.

The flat-headed snake is Missouri's smallest snake. It is found in the southern half of the state except the far southeastern corner.

The rough earthsnake is a small, plain-looking snake of open, rocky woodlands in the Missouri Ozarks. It normally doesn’t exceed 10 inches in length.