During our 25 years here, I have seen 15 kinds of snakes in Oklahoma but never a venomous one. I think the reason is we have two kinds of kingsnakes, and both eat venomous snakes. I’m just going to write about the 7 snakes I have photos of, starting with the black rat snake.
Rat Snakes
The black rat snake (photo: top row, far left), often just called a black snake, is long, reaching 72 inches or more. It is shiny black and has a light-colored belly. During cool or warm weather, it is diurnal (active during the day), but in hot weather it becomes nocturnal. Rat snakes are excellent climbers and may be found in holes and cavities high up in trees. The attached picture shows one climbing an elm tree along our driveway
The rat snake has a strange and unusual behavior. When startled or frightened, it can freeze and become wrinkled or “kinked” (photo: top row, second from left). Kinking is supposed to mimic the appearance of a fallen branch so the snake can avoid attack by a predator. Once the threat has passed, the snake unkinks and moves on.
Green Snakes
The green snake is slender, 22-32 inches long, light green above, yellow below, with a yellow chin. It is diurnal and will be seen searching for food, which includes spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, and caterpillars. It is often near water, which it will enter to escape a predator.
The scales of a snake may be smooth or have a ridge down the middle. If ridged, it’s called keeled or rough. Our green snake has rough scales. Smooth green snakes are found in the upper Midwest and Northeast.
Green snakes are fairly common but are hard to find because they blend so well with vegetation. I usually see them around the pond where they hang in the brush and appear like pale green vines. I can stand two feet away from one and it will just look at me and not move. Most snakes escape the minute they see you. Green snakes are docile, and when caught will try to escape rather than bite.
Plain-Bellied Water Snake
The water snake we see most often at the pond is the plain-bellied water snake. It has a yellow or cream-colored chin and belly. The back may or may not be patterned. Water snakes are often killed because people think they are cottonmouths. Cottonmouths usually swim with most of the body on the surface of the water. Water snakes typically swim with the head and neck out of the water and the rest of the body below the surface.
Nonvenomous snakes have round pupils, whereas venomous snakes have vertical, slit-like pupils, like a cat’s eye. Our venomous snakes are copperheads, rattlesnakes and cottonmouths Venomous snakes also have a “pit” between the eye and nostril. It’s a sensory organ that allows them to detect warm-blooded animals, even in total darkness.
Prairie Kingsnake
The prairie kingsnake is found in open woodlands, prairies and fields. We see it more often than we do the related speckled kingsnake. The prairie kingsnake’s coloring is tan with dark brown blotches down the back and sides. The belly is yellow to whitish with brown blotches. Its diet consists of rodents, snakes, lizards and eggs. It eats venomous and nonvenomous snakes and is not harmed if bitten by a venomous snake. It is nocturnal and fairly docile. When disturbed, it will vibrate its tail on the ground or against fallen leaves, making a rattling sound. It is a beneficial snake because of the many rodents it eats.
Actually, all snakes are beneficial.
Yellow-Bellied Racer
The yellow-bellied racer is found throughout Oklahoma. It is a long, slender snake. The back is brown or olive and the belly is yellow or cream. The few I’ve seen have been olive. I’ll never forget the close encounter I had with one. I was trimming under a shrub, with my head close to the ground. When I happened to look up, I was face to face with a racer, with less than a foot between us. We looked at each other, turned, and went our separate ways. Several minutes later, my heart rate returned to normal.
Racers are diurnal and hunt with their heads held high, using their acute vision to look for prey. That’s why I was eye-to-eye with the one I met.
Ribbon Snake
The orange-striped ribbon snake is found throughout Oklahoma. It is a slender snake with a long tail, which is approximately one-third of its total length. The tail of a snake begins at the cloaca, the opening through which a snake excretes waste. The snake is 20-30 inches long. It has an orange or yellow stripe down the middle of its back and a cream-colored stripe on each side. There is a cream or yellow spot on the top of its head. The top stripe begins behind the spot.
It is easily confused with a garter snake which also has orange and yellow stripes. Garter snakes are the most widely distributed snake in North America. Although similar in appearance, a garter snake is heavier-bodied than a ribbon snake and has a checkered appearance on the sides. The stripes are not as clearly defined as those of the ribbon snake.
Ribbon snakes do not lay eggs, as many snakes do, but give birth to live young. Snakes that lay eggs are referred to as oviparous, from the Latin “ovi’ meaning egg and “parous” bearing. Snakes that bear young are either viviparous (Latin, “vivi” live, “parous” bearing) or ovoviviparous (Latin, “ovo” egg, “vivi” live, “parous” bearing). With ovoviviparous snakes the eggs hatch inside the female and she gives birth to young.
Ribbon snakes are ovoviviparous, as are garter snakes, cottonmouths and rattlesnakes. The copperhead is an example of a viviparous snake. Oviparous (egg laying) snakes include rat snakes and kingsnakes.
Ribbon snakes are usually found near water in areas of dense vegetation. Their diet consists of small frogs, tadpoles and fish. They will readily enter water to escape a predator. They are active April through October.
Speckled Kingsnake
The speckled kingsnake is the last snake I have a photo of, and just this one picture. I’ve only seen them occasionally, but never when I had a camera with me. I’m lucky to have this picture. Actually, that’s true for all the snake photos. It’s just luck when I come across one and have a camera with me. I need to take my camera with me more often. The speckled kingsnake’s overall coloring is black, and it is heavily marked with yellow and white spots. The belly is cream with dark blotches. Its diet consists of snakes, lizards, rodents, and birds. It is not affected by the bite of a venomous snake.
The snakes I’ve seen, but don’t have pictures of, are the western worm snake, diamondback water snake, northern water snake, Graham’s crayfish snake, ground snake, Dekay’s brown snake, eastern garter snake, and lined snake.
