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Scientific Name Specimen Records Northern Redbelly Snake
Click photo to enlarge.
Photo by Jonathan Mays.
Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata (Storer) ATBI Database
Common Name
Northern Redbelly Snake
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Chordata Reptilia Squamata Colubridae
Animals Chordates Reptiles Lizards and Snakes Typical Snakes

One of the general group of small snakes that often go unseen, the redbelly snake is also encountered by visitors to the Park that turn stones in search of salamanders. The redbelly snake is a small snake that is active during warmer months, and they may hibernate during cold months. They have a reddish, gray or brown dorsal side and a red, or orange ventral side. When the snake feels threatened, it may curl its upper lip to frighten small predators. This snake is probably very common in the leaf litter but is rarely encountered.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Adult total length: Adults, 18-25 cm, juveniles, 7-10 cm at birth; 40.6 cm record length.

Defining Characters: It is a small snake with keeled scales and a divided anal plate. It has three spots on the napes of the neck which can join to form a collar. The belly is often bright red.

Pattern/Coloration: The redbelly snake can be almost any color, gray, brown or reddish. The ventral side of the redbelly snake may be red, or orange or a reddish brown.

In Park: The redbelly snake is the only snake in the Park that may have a solid, bright red belly.

Similar species: The brown snake snake (Storeria dekayi) is similar but has a row of spots or bars down the back. Brown snakes do not have vivid red (or at least pinkish-red) belly.

Photographs

Defensive
Northern Redbelly Snake
Click photo to enlarge.
Photo by Jonathan Mays.


DISTRIBUTION

Regional

Regional distribution map. Redbelly snakes have a wide ranging but disjunct distribution from extreme southern Manitoba, Ontario and the Maritime Provinces in Canada south to Florida in the East. In the West, redbelly snakes range from Wisconsin south to Texas.

Map courtesy of Joe Collins, The Center for North American Herpetology.

Click map to enlarge.

In Park

ATBI Database Map: Specimen Records.
Click maps to enlarge.

 Redbelly snakes occur throughout the Park up to 1800 m (6000 ft).

NATURAL HISTORY

Habitat

Redbelly snakes prefer pine forests, hardwood forests, the edges of swamps and wetlands or other marshy environments. Redbelly snakes are found frequently under logs and stones.

In Park: Probably more common on the western side of the Park.

Reproduction

They mate during spring, summer and fall. The females give live birth to 4 – 9 young.

Terrestrial Ecology

Redbelly snakes eat earthworm (Oligochaeta), slugs and snails (Gastropoda), soft bodied insects (Insecta) and pillbugs (Isopoda).

ASSOCIATED SPECIES

Predators

Kingsnakes and racers (Squamata), birds (Aves), large spiders (Araneae), toads (Anura) and salamanders (Urodela).

Parasites

Unknown

Competitors

N/A

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Some concern exists as to a decline in redbelly snakes in areas where they were once reported common, like suburban areas. Domestic cats dispatch redbelly snakes with some regularity.

Special Protection Status

Rangewide: None. Considered "demonstrably widespread, abundant, and secure" (G5, S5) by The Nature Conservancy.

In Park: All plants and animals are protected within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collection requires a permit which is usually granted only for research or educational purposes.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Field Assistants

Jon Davenport, Joshua Ennen, Jessica Daniel, James Ramsey, James Webb.

Maps

Global: N/A

Regional: Map courtesy of Joe Collins, The Center for North American Herpetology.

In Park: Discover Life in America - All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. 2007. The ATBI Database. http://tremont22.campus.utk.edu/ATBI_start.cfm, Discover Life in America, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.

Photographs

National Park Service photo byJonathan Mays.

Text

Dr. Ben Cash, Maryville College (ben.cash@maryvillecollege.edu); Jeanine McMillan

Web page

Charles Wilder.

REFERENCES

Conant, R. and J. T. Collins. 1998. Reptiles and Amphibians: Eastern and Central North America. Peterson Field Guides (series), 3rd ed. expanded, Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, New York, 616 pp.

Huheey J. E., and A. Stupka. 1967. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee, 98 pp.

NatureServe. 2003. NatureServe Explorer: An online encyclopedia of life [web application]. Version 1.8. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available http://www.natureserve.org/explorer. (Accessed: July 12, 2003).

Palmer, W. M. and A. L. Braswell. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 412 pp.

Tilley, S. G. and J. E. Huheey. 2001. Reptiles and Amphibians of the Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, 143pp.