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Discover Nature: Baby Snakes

Missouri Department of Conservation

When people find baby snakes around their homes, they wonder, "Where did it come from? Is it poisonous? Will we find more?"

During late August, September and early October, young snakes are moving around, looking for hiding places, food or spots to hole up for the winter.  The majority of baby snakes people find are newly-hatched prairie kingsnakes, water snakes and black rat snakes, which most people call "black snakes."

 

Black rat snakes and prairie kingsnakes hatch from eggs during late summer.  Baby water snakes are born live around the same time.  All of these snakes look somewhat alike:  they are gray, tan or cream with numerous dark crossbands along the length of their bodies.

Most people won't fall in love with snakes even baby snakes, but it is possible to appreciate the role they play in nature. Most snakes found around homes are not only harmless; they're beneficial.  Many eat mice.  Often these young, snakes are misidentified as copperheads and needlessly killed.  The kingsnakes eat other snakes.  Learning to identify common snakes and their young can help protect these valuable animals.

Snakes don't need much from us humans, just a little tolerance.

Learn more about prairie kingsnakes online with the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Trevor serves as KBIA’s weekday morning host for classical music. He has been involved with local radio since 1990, when he began volunteering as a music and news programmer at KOPN, Columbia's community radio station. Before joining KBIA, Trevor studied social work at Mizzou and earned a masters degree in geography at the University of Alabama. He has worked in community development and in urban and bicycle/pedestrian planning, and recently served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia with his wife, Lisa Groshong. An avid bicycle commuter and jazz fan, Trevor has cycled as far as Colorado and pawed through record bins in three continents.
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