Thamnophis sauritus: The Eastern Ribbon Snake

On Tuesday, March 10, during a sampling field trip at Caw Caw Interpretive Center, the South Carolina native snake, Thamnophis sauritus, was caught and identified.  Although once considered part of the Colubridae family, recent phylogenetic evidence has lead to the formation of a new family, Natricidae.   Snakes in this family are typically aquatic/semi aquatic, are harmless (no venom), have keeled scales, and are viviparous!  Thamnophis sauritus are commonly known as Eastern Ribbon snakes because of the long strips running laterally along their very long and very slender body.  Only the ribbon and the garter snake have these pronounced lateral markings, and they are both in the genus Thamnophis.  When very small, these two species may be difficult to tell apart, but this individual was much too long and slender to have been a Garter snake.   Ribbon snakes typically eat small vertebrate such as fish, amphibians and reptiles.  Not surprisingly, this individual was found on the bank of a freshwater wetland where it was likely searching for its next meal.  The snake appeared to be healthy adult snake. It was around 2 feet long with vibrant patterning.   These snakes are quite common in South Carolina, and can be found along the banks of fresh and saltwater sources.  These snakes are known to be semiaquatic and can also be seen swimming on top of the water with their lateral bands expose for easy identification.  This sex of this snake was not identified, and they are not easily identified unless they are probed. 

Although the snake was clearly attempting to leave the situation, I was surprised at the docile nature of this snake.  I have never encountered, and collected a snake from the wild so I was unsure to how it may react.   You may notice its composed posture in the photos added.   This was the only handleable snake found on this trip, and it has me excited to search for more next week!