The North Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake is a unique and fascinating species.
It's found in the southeastern United States, specifically in the coastal plain region of North Carolina.
This snake is relatively small, averaging about 18-24 inches in length.
The Pygmy Rattlesnake is a member of the pit viper family, which also includes copperheads and cottonmouths.
In North Carolina, the Pygmy Rattlesnake is listed as a species of special concern due to habitat loss and fragmentation.
As a result, it's essential to be aware of the snake's habits and habitats to avoid encounters.
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What is the Pygmy Rattlesnake?
The Pygmy Rattlesnake is a small species of venomous snake, typically growing up to 17-20 inches in length.
It's found in the southeastern United States, including North Carolina, where it inhabits a variety of environments, from forests to wetlands.
This snake is a member of the pit viper family, which includes other venomous snakes like the cottonmouth and copperhead.
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The Pygmy Rattlesnake is known for its distinctive rattle, which it uses for defense and warning.
It has a slender build and a brown or grayish color, often with a distinctive pattern of darker bands or blotches.
In North Carolina, the Pygmy Rattlesnake is listed as a species of special concern, due to habitat loss and other environmental factors.
Despite its small size, the Pygmy Rattlesnake is a formidable hunter, feeding on small animals like mice and lizards.
It's a solitary animal and is most active at night, when it hunts for food and avoids potential predators.
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Geographic Range
The pygmy rattlesnake is found in a variety of habitats, including flatwoods, sandhills, mixed forests, and floodplains, as well as near lakes and marshes.
These habitats provide the necessary cover for the snake, which prefers more densely vegetated areas.
Sistrurus miliarius is widely distributed across the Southeastern United States, with a geographic range that spans from southern and eastern North Carolina.
The type locality for this species is Charleston, South Carolina, a designation proposed by Schmidt in 1953.
The snake's range extends south through peninsular Florida and west to East Texas and Oklahoma.
Identification and Behavior
Pygmy rattlesnakes in North Carolina can be identified by their distinctive rattle, which makes a soft buzzing sound that's only audible from a few feet away. This sound is caused by the tiny rattle on the end of the snake's tail.
The pygmy rattlesnake's color varies depending on the subspecies, but they often have a dorsal stripe that's red or orange, and a red-brown to black bar running from the eye to the jaw.
Here are the three subspecies of pygmy rattlesnakes found in the Southeastern United States, including North Carolina:
- The Carolina pygmy rattler can be found in Alabama, Georgia and North and South Carolina. It can be pale gray, tan, lavender, orange or red in color and has rows of spots on its sides.
- The Dusky pygmy rattler can be found in Florida, Mississippi and the Carolinas. It ranges from bluish gray to almost black and has a black stippling pattern.
- The Western pygmy rattler can be found in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. It's a pale grayish-brown with crossbar-shaped blotches.
Pygmy rattlesnakes are generally solitary animals and only become social during the breeding season. They typically don't move far from their "home burrows" and studies have shown that males may move farther than females.
How to Identify
The Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake is a heavy-bodied snake with a grey or reddish body and a red or rust colored stripe running along its spine. This snake has dark brown or black blotches along its spine that appear to cover the red stripe, as well as one or two rows of dark brown or black blotches on its sides.
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A distinctive feature of the Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake is its dark cheek-stripe, which starts at the eye and runs diagonally down and backwards to the jaw above the mouthline. This cheek-stripe is often edged in white.
The snake's head is large and triangular, with a width that's wider than the neck when viewed from above. It also has elliptical pupils that look like cat's eyes and a heat-sensing pit between the nostril and eye on each side of its head.
To identify the Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake, look for its distinctive color patterns. It can be pale gray, tan, lavender, orange, or red in color, with rows of spots on its sides.
Here are the three subspecies of the Pygmy Rattlesnake, found in the Southeastern United States:
- The Carolina pygmy rattler can be found in Alabama, Georgia, and North and South Carolina.
- The Dusky pygmy rattler can be found in Florida, Mississippi, and the Carolinas.
- The Western pygmy rattler can be found in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
The Pygmy Rattlesnake can be found in a variety of habitats, including drier areas, near water sources, and in forested areas.
Behavior
Pygmy Rattlesnakes are usually seen in the summer sunning themselves or crossing the road late in the day.
The tiny rattle of the Pygmy Rattlesnake makes a buzzing sound that can only be heard from a few feet away. This is due to the unusually small rattles, which are suggestive of the early stages of rattle evolution.
Some individuals are very aggressive and strike furiously, while others seem lethargic and do not even attempt to rattle.
A larger portion of these rattlesnakes are usually reluctant to bite.
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