Field Guide

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 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.

The western mudsnake is a harmless swamp dweller of Missouri's Bootheel lowlands. It is burdened with misinformation and imaginative folklore. But it turns out that fact is more interesting than fiction.

The northern rough greensnake is a long, slender snake common in the Ozarks. It is light green above with a white or yellowish belly. The scales on the back have small ridges that feel rough to the touch. Its beautiful green color helps this mild-mannered insectivore blend in with tree leaves.

The eastern long-tailed salamander and closely related dark-sided salamander are agile and can escape predators by using their tails for quick jumps. They live in the southern and eastern parts of Missouri.

The grotto salamander is Missouri’s only species of blind salamander. A true troglobite, it lives in total darkness and has small eyes that are completely or partially covered by their pink or beige skin. Occurs in wet caves in the Ozarks.

The southern red-backed salamander is small and slender, with a distinct, narrow, red or orange stripe along the back that has saw-toothed edges. It hides under rocks, mosses, and rotten logs in Ozark forests.