Field Guide

The cave salamander is a common amphibian of the Ozark Plateau. It lives in caves, springs, and rocky streams. Recognize it by its normally bright orange skin dotted with dark brown or black spots.

The variable groundsnake is a small species with smooth, shiny scales and highly variable coloration. In Missouri, it is mostly restricted to open, rocky hillsides of the southwestern corner of the state.

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 western pygmy rattlesnake is small and colorful, with a slender tail and tiny rattle. Its vibrating rattle is a faint buzz that sounds like a grasshopper. In Missouri, it occurs in the eastern Ozarks and in some counties bordering Arkansas.

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.

One of Missouri's most brilliantly colored snakes is also extremely rare to find. The northern scarletsnake is similar in pattern and color to the more common red milksnake but has a red or orange snout and a spotless, white belly.

The harmless eastern milksnake is white, yellow, or light tan, with red or orange blotches bordered with black. The belly is white and strongly checked with black. This species often is misidentified as the venomous coralsnake, which is not found in Missouri.

Blanchard's cricket frog is a nonclimbing member of the treefrog family. It lacks the adhesive toe pads associated with treefrogs. It occurs statewide. The call is a metallic “gick, gick, gick.”

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.

Prairie ring-necked snakes are easily recognizable by their small size, uniform dark color on the back, bright yellow-orange belly, and distinct yellow ring around the neck. Secretive, but common nearly statewide.