Dekay's Brownsnake

I'm surprised I haven't shown one of these Dekay's Brownsnakes (aka Northern Brown Snake) before; let's remedy that today. These are small non-venomous snakes that are generally light brown or grayish-brown. They tend to have lighter coloring along the top of the back bordered by darker spots. They're usually about a foot long but slender enough that you won't think of it as big. Because of their small size they are frequently misidentified as a young version of our larger snakes.

Though they have a southern relative called the Florida Brown Snake, they also have a fairly close relative here in NJ: the Northern Redbelly Snake. Unfortunately I have yet to meet a Northern Redbelly Snake (though I routinely meet Northern Red-bellied Cooters.) The Northern Redbelly Snake has a red/orange belly and is otherwise darker than the Dekay's Brownsnake, but otherwise these are pretty similar snakes.

Though they're said to be secretive, on cool spring or autumn days I've seen them out in the open sunning themselves. This sometimes gets them in trouble since they recognize asphalt to be an excellent place to warm up but don't understand the auto, bicycle, and foot traffic that asphalt attracts. 

These snakes are so small they're unlikely to hurt you even in the unlikely event they attempt to bite you. Unless you're a snail, snug, or earthworm; if you're any of those, you're definitely on the snake's menu. For most of us, these are just helpful little snakes we should enjoy getting to know.

October 16, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 168430563, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

October 16, 2021 at Duke Farms
Photo 168430549, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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