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Pine Woods Littersnake
Scientific Name: Rhadinaea flavilata
Terrestrial
Native
Nonvenomous
A small garden snake- 8 to 15 inches. Reddish brown or tan above; white, pale yellow, yellow green below. A distinct dark band bordered by a pale line passes through the eye. Lips are white or yellow. Scales are smooth and in 17 rows.
Range and Habitat
Ranges along the Atlantic and Gulf coast from North Carolina to Louisiana. Found in and under rotting logs, leaves, soils, and other surface objects in coastal pine flatwoods and bottomland hardwood forests in the lower Florida Parishes from Livingston Parish eastward.
Behavior
Eats frogs, lizards, small salamanders, and small snakes. When it captures food, it partially swallows the prey so it can use fangs in the back of its mouth to inject a slightly venomous saliva; it remains still until the prey stops moving. Mates in late winter/early spring. Females lay 2 to 4 yellowish-white, leathery eggs in rotting logs between June and August. The young hatch in September.
Population Status
Ranked as S1 (critically imperiled) in Louisiana. Threats to population include land use conversion, habitat destruction, and fire suppression.