Natural History of Carphophis amoenus (common worm snake)

During our trip to the Caw Caw Interpretive Center, I was really excited to get to look for snakes. Luckily, we were able to find several different species, one of which was the common worm snake. This individual was really small and slender, and was very active! Studying this species in the lab and looking at pictures of it online don't really do justice to how beautiful it is in person - the scales of the individual we saw in the field had a pinkish, almost pearlescent sheen to them. For a fossorial snake that spends its time tunneling in the dirt, it was surprisingly pretty!

The individual we found at Caw Caw

Not from our field trip, but this image better shows what the colors of the individual we found at Caw Caw looked like

Since this species is fossorial, you can notice the rounded, almost shovel-like head - these little guys are great at burrowing! They stay relatively small, like the one we found, and do look rather like worms (hence the common name). These common worm snakes like to live in wooded areas, like we saw at Caw Caw, and particularly like damp areas like old logs, soft damp soil, and loose leaves. These softer substrates make for great burrowing material, so that they can dig their way through and make tunnels. Since they live in the dirt, their diet is comprised of things like actual worms, and other smaller, softer, inverts they might find in the soil. 

The eastern common worm snake has a rather wide range, spanning the length of the Atlantic coast up as far as around New York, and inland as far as parts of Illinois, Arkansas, and Louisiana. They're classified as a species of least concern, and aren't threatened or endangered. Luckily for us, this makes it easy for us to observe them in the wild! 

I didn't know anything about this species before taking herpetology, and just being exposed to it in the lab didn't leave a huge impact on me. But getting to see one in the field really gave me a deeper appreciation for this species. Some of the larger local snakes like pine snakes, rat snakes, and king snakes have been a source of interest for me, but I had no idea that we had such beautiful little snakes hidden under the surface! Getting to find a worm snake out at Caw Caw really opened my eyes to what an interesting variety of snakes we have just within Charleston, and I have a new appreciation for some of the smaller less well known snakes!

Source: Hammerson, G.A. 2007. Carphophis amoenus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2007: e.T63738A12712149. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63738A12712149.en.