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| Scientific name: Chordata: Reptilia: Testudinata: Colubridae: Common Name: Snakes of the Washington, D.C., Area Country: USA Photographer: E. M. Barrows Identifier: E. M. Barrows
Additional Information: Snakes of the Washington, D.C., Area (WDCA) (E.M.B., 2 June 2008) ____________________________________________________________ In this article, I define the WDCA as Washington, D.C.; the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, and Fairfax County, VA; and Montgomery County, and Prince Georges County, MD. The Great Value of Snakes Snakes are highly valuable parts of food webs. In the Washington, D.C., Area (WDCA), hawks, owls, Snapping Turtles, and other organisms consume fresh snakes. Thousands of kinds of beneficial organisms consume dead and decaying snakes. In turn, snakes eat birds, earthworms, frogs, insects, mice, rats, other kinds of snakes, toads, and other organisms. Snakes are key parts of the balance of nature. Further snakes are excellent animals for education about nature. Revering Snakes We should all respect snakes and let them live. We should learn to identify snakes correctly so that we do not let nonvenomous snakes needlessly alarm us. Venomous Snakes The only native snake with poisonous venom that still lives in the Washington, D.C., Area, is the Copperhead. I hear that Copperheads live along the Potomac River in rocky areas, but have not yet had a chance to see a Copperhead there. This Snake List Here is the first draft of an annotated list the native snake species of the WDCA. This list is not complete. This page is a work in progress. ____________________________________________________________ Key BY = This is a snake species I have found in my yard in Bethesda, Maryland. PBDWA = There is a photograph of this genus on this website. ____________________________________________________________ Agkistrodon contortrix mokasen, Northern Copperhead, venous. Do not disturb this species for your own safety, not to mention letting it live. People have brought in almost every kind of snake in the WDCA to the National Zoo (= Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park), thinking it is a Copperhead (Mr. Bela Demeter, biologist; formerly Head of the Department of Herpetology, Smithsonian Institution's National Zoological Park, Kojo Nnamdi Show, 2 June 2008). Carphophis amoenus, Worm Snake Coluber constrictor, Black Racer. Mr. Bela Demeter found this species along the Cheasapeake & Ohio Canal (Kojo Nnamdi Show, 2 June 2008). Diadophis puncatatus, Ring-neck Snake Elaphe obsoletea, Black Rat Snake (BY, PBDWA) Nerioda sipedon, Northern Water Snake (PBDWA) Opheodrys aestivus, Rough Green Snake Regina septemvittata, Queen Snake Storeria dekayi, Northern Brown Snake, Dekay’s Tree Snake (BY, PBDWA) Thamnophis sauritus, Eastern Ribbon Snake Thamnophis sirtalis, Eastern Garter Snake (BY) ____________________________________________________________ References Behler, John L., King, F. Wayne. 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, NY. 743 pages. Conant, R. and J.T. Collins. 1998. A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles, Eastern and Central North America. Expanded, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin, Co., Boston, MA. 616 pages. Ernst, Carl H. and Ernst, Evelyn M. 2003. Snakes of the United States and Canada. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 668 pages. Gibbons, J. Whitfield and Dorcas, Michael E. 2004. North American Watersnakes: A Natural History. University of Oklahoma Press. 438 pages. Gibbons, Whit and Dorcas, Michael E. 2005. Snakes of the Southeast. University of Georgia Press. 253 pages. Green, N. Bayard and Thomas K. Pauley. 1987. Amphibians & Reptiles in West Virginia. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA. 241 pages. Hulse, Authur C., McCoy C. J., Censky, Ellen. 2001. Amphibians and Reptiles of Pennsylvania and the Northeast. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY. 419 pages. Johnston, D. W. 2000. The Dyke Marsh Preserve Ecosystem. Virginia Journal of Science 51: 223 272. Linzey, Donald W. and Michael J. Clifford. 1981. Snakes of Virginia. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. 173 pages. Martof, B.S., W.M. Palmer, J.R. Bailey, J.R. Harrison III and J. Dermid. 1980. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 264 pages. Mitchell, Joseph C. and Reay, Karen K. 1999. Atlas of Amphibians & Reptiles in Virginia. Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries Special Publication # 1, Wildlife Diversity Division, Richmond, VA. 122 pages. Mitchell, Joseph C. 1994. The Reptiles of Virginia. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 352 pages. Pinder, M.J. and J.C. Mitchell. 2001. A Guide to the Snakes of Virginia. Wildlife Diversity Special Publication Number 2, Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. Richmond, VA. 32 pages. Tennant, Alan and R.D. Bartlett. 2000. Snakes of North America Eastern and Central Regions. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, TX. 588 pages. Virginia Herpetological Society. 2008. Virginia Snake Identification Guide. Webpage http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/VHS/virginia_snake_identification.htm (2 June 2008). White, James F. Jr. and White, Amy Wendt. 2002. Amphibians and Reptiles of DELMARVA. Tidewater Publishers, Centreville, MD. 248 pages. Wright, Albert and Anna. 1957. Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada. Cornell University Press. 1105 pages. |
