Rhadinaea flavilata is most prevalent in Florida; it is found throughout most of the peninsula south to around Lake Okeechobee. There are also isolated populations in the central panhandle. Outside of Florida, it is found in isolated populations along the coastal plain from North Carolina to eastern Louisiana.

(Florida Museum of Natural History, 1996)

Biogeographic Regions: atlantic ocean (Native )

endemic to a single nation

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Global Range: (20,000-2,500,000 square km (about 8000-1,000,000 square miles)) This snake is discontinuously distributed along the Coastal Plain from North Carolina to southern Florida (to Palm Beach County, Herp. Rev. 20:76), and west to eastern Louisiana (Mount 1975, Ashton and Ashton 1981, Dundee and Rossman 1989, Conant and Collins 1991, Palmer and Braswell 1995, Tennnt 1997, Walley 1999, Ernst and Ernst 2003). It occurs mostly at elevations below 30 meters and within 120 kilometers of the coast (see Ernst and Barbour 1989).

Rhadinaea flavilata adults are slender and average 10-12 inches (25.4-30.4 cm). They are yellowish-brown to reddish with whitish-yellow lips and a thin dark line running from the corner of the jaw, through the eye, to the nose. The chin is also light colored. Underneath they are solid whitish-yellow. The scales are smooth, with 17 scale rows dorsally at midbody. The anal plate is divided. Pupils are round. Juveniles have similar physical features to that of adults.

(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Carmichael 1999)

Length: 40 cm

• Terrestrial

The Pine Woods Snake is found in heavily shaded, damp ground litter of lowland pine flatwoods, as its name would indicate. These snakes are rarely seen in pinelands, freshwater marshes, hardwood hammocks, cypress strands, bayheads, barrier islands in tidal marshes, sandhills, mixed harwood forests, and pine forest. Rhadinaea flavilata occasionally found under rotting logs and leaves, but most often under the bark of dead pine trees. Pine Woods Snakes also tend to turn up in areas where the pine flatwoods habitat has been lost to urban development and all that remains is slash pines scattered among the houses. They even have been found under the pine straw that accumulates on the roofs of houses in southwest peninsular Florida.

(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Carmichael 1999)

Terrestrial Biomes: forest

Comments: Habitat is mainly damp pine flatwoods; also slash pine and longleaf pine woodlands; habitat is maintained by periodic fire (Mount 1975, Dundee and Rossman 1989, Palmer and Braswell 1995, Tennant 1997, Ernst and Ernst 2003). Sometimes this snake is found in hardwood hammocks near pine flatwoods, along wooded edges of wet prairies, in sandhills near water, or in ecotones between sandhills and bottomlands and pocosins; some occur in dry live-oak woodlands on coastal islands off North Carolina and Florida (Ashton and Ashton 1981, Palmer and Braswell 1995, Ernst and Ernst 2003). This snake is secretive and fossorial, often occurring under loose bark, in or under rotting logs, stumps, leaf litter, or other debris, buried in sandy soil, or in burrows. During dry periods, it has been found in crayfish burrows. Eggs usually are laid in rotting wood (Martof et al. 1980).

Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

The Pine Woods Snake is carnivorous. Their primary food sources are small lizards, salamanders, frogs (especially hylids), snakes, and insects. Fangs in the rear of its mouth are used to subdue its prey. Its weak venom is used to immobilized the prey before being swallowed. The Pine woods snake's salivary toxins are no defense against the Ophiophagus Eastern and Scarlet Kingsnakes.

(Burton 1991, Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Tennant 1997)

Comments: Eats mostly small amphibians and reptiles (Mount 1975, Ernst and Barbour 1989). Has elongated posterior maxillary teeth, evidently used to introduce mild immobilizing venom into prey.

Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.

Estimated Number of Occurrences: 81 - 300

Comments: This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations). For example, Palmer and Braswell (1995) mapped approximately 65 collection sites in North Carolina alone.

100,000 - 1,000,000 individuals

Comments: Adult population size is unknown but presumably exceeds 100,000. This snake often appears to be uncommon, but it is secretive and generally more numerous than casual observations indicate.

Comments: Active on surface chiefly at night (Martof et al. 1980). May be active year-round, but most active in spring (see Ernst and Barbour 1989).

Eggs are laid in a small clutch, no natural nests are known. The breeding season is from March to early May. Producing two-four inch long eggs between May and August. The eggs hatch during the summer months. Young are approximately 5 inches (12.7 cm)upon hatching.

(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Tennant 1997)

Egg laying may occur from late April or May through August (Behler and King 1979, Ernst and Barbour 1989). Clutch size usually is 2-4. May lay more than one clutch each year (Fitch 1970).

They are uncommon, but are present on land set aside to conserve ecosystems, such as the Everglades National Park.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N4 - Apparently Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure

Reasons: Discontinuous distribution on the Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S.; evidently secure, though little is known about population trends.

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Comments: Current trend is uncertain, but extent of occurrence, area of occupancy, number of subpopulations, and population size probably are relatively stable or declining at a rate of less than 10 percent over 10 years or three generations.

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of 10-25% to decline of 30%

Comments: No major threats are known. Likely some habitat has been lost due to habitat changes resulting from fire suppression.

No adverse affects on humans are known at this time.

In Florida, reptiles are one of the main contributors to a stable ecosystem. They hold some important ranks in the food chain. They also help keep rodents and other pests under control.

(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996)