Are These Southern Snakes Venomous or Not?

That’s a corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus), which is nonvenomous.

These popular pets are orangish-brown in color, with darker blotches and a belly that usually presents a black and white checkerboard pattern. 

Fun fact: Their name likely comes from the markings on the belly, which resemble kernels of multicolored corn. 

That’s a ring-necked snake (Diadophis punctatus), which is nonvenomous.

The name derives from this small, dark, and slender snake’s defining characteristic—a yellow, cream, or orange ring around the neck. The reptile’s underbelly is a dead giveaway too; it can be a bright yellow, orange, or red. 

Fun fact: The harmless little snakes have a unique defense behavior: They flip over and tightly coil their tails to expose their bright belly. The move earned them the nickname “corkscrew snakes.” 

That’s a copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), which is venomous.

Copperheads  are a pale tan or brown color, with a distinctive crossband pattern that looks like hourglasses running the length of their bodies.

Fun fact: Baby copperheads have a bright green tail that looks like a little worm to help them attract prey. 

That’s a coral snake (Micrurus fulvius), which is venomous.

Don’t worry about that dumb rhyme. Just learn the pattern: A coral snake’s wide bands completely circle the body, with the red and black separated by narrower yellow bands. The red bands can have black speckles. 

Fun fact: Coral snakes are nocturnal and actually quite shy and rarely spotted. They love to hide under rotting wood; if you do come across one, leave it alone.

That’s an Eastern kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula), which is nonvenomous.

These snakes are black to chocolate brown, with a white or yellowish pattern down the back and along the sides that looks like a chain-link fence. 

Fun fact: You want this guy around. Though they will also eat rodents, birds, and amphibians, king snakes specialize in hunting other snakes, including venomous ones.

That’s an Eastern garter (Nerodia taxispilota), which is nonvenomous.

Though these common snakes are highly variable in pattern, they usually have three light stripes running along the length of their olive, gray, black, or brown bodies. 

Fun fact: Though usually solitary, garter snakes will gather in groups when it gets cold and time to brumate—the reptilian take on hibernation.

That’s a cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus), which is venomous.

Cottonmouths have short, thick tails and stocky bodies, and their arrow-shaped heads are wider than their necks. They are easily confused with water snakes. Look for their signature behavioral clue: When threatened, they will “gape,” opening their mouth wide to reveal a startlingly white-pinkish mouth. 

Fun fact: Cottonmouths and water moccasins are the same snake, and they’re semi-aquatic—equally comfortable in the water and on land.

That’s a banded water snake (Nerodia fasciata), which is nonvenomous.

These denizens of marshes, ponds, streams, and lakes are greenish-gray, gray, or brown in color, with dark crossbands. 

Fun fact: When they feel threatened, these members of the Nerodia genus will flatten themselves out to appear larger and use their anal glands to produce a foul smell. 

That’s a black racer (Coluber constrictor), which is nonvenomous.

These are smooth, slender, shiny black snakes, differentiated from indigo snakes by the white on the chin and throat. 

Fun fact: Racers are some of the fastest snakes on the continent, as their name suggests, and as juveniles have dark gray to reddish-brown blotches that fade as they mature. 

That’s a timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), which is venomous.

Timber rattlers sport large dark brown or black bands on a brown or tan body, but the real giveaway is the rattle, often held above the ground. 

Fun fact: While timber rattlesnakes are the most common rattler around the South, the region is also home to the eastern diamondback, the pygmy, and, well, a whole lot of others in Texas.

That’s a brown water snake (Nerodia taxispilota), which is nonvenomous.

Another member of the Nerodia genus, brown water snakes have broad black, brown, or red crossbands often bordered with black covering their thick bodies. 

Fun fact: The scales of brown water snakes are keeled, meaning they have a ridge down the center, and this species has more scales than any other water snake.

Not only is this nonvenomous, it is not even a snake—it’s an eastern glass lizard (Ophisaurus ventralis), a species of legless lizard native to the South. To differentiate them from snakes, note their movable eyelids and external ear openings.

Fun fact: Like any other lizard, glass lizards can lose their tails!