Florida Scarlet Snake (Cemophora coccinea coccinea)
Description: The Florida scarlet snake grows to 14 to 20 inches in total length (body + tail), record 31 inches. It is typically gray or white, with red blotches bordered by black along its back. The black borders on the blotches often join on the lower sides of the snake forming a line down the length of the body. Its belly is a uniform white. Its scales are smooth.
Scarlet snakes can sometimes be mistaken for the scarlet kingsnake, (Lampropeltis elapsoides) or the Eastern milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) in the areas where their ranges overlap. The Florida scarlet snake can easily be distinguished from the scarlet kingsnake by its white (rather than yellow) bands, and from the Eastern milk snake by its red head and slightly upturned nose.
Distinguishing the Florida scarlet snake from the closely allied Northern scarlet snake is more difficult, although generally the subspecies can be identified based on location; the ranges of the two subspecies overlap only minimally. The main point of distinction is in the number of upper labial scales present in each subspecies: the Florida scarlet snake has 7 upper labial scales, while the Northern scarlet snake has 6.
Habitat: commonly found in pine flatwoods, dry prairies, hardwood hammocks, and sandhills. These secretive snakes are primarily burrowers and are usually found under rocks, logs, and other debris. Although they can be locally abundant, they are not commonly seen due to their secretive nature.
Range: It is found exclusively in peninsular Florida, from as far north as Marion County to the southern tip of the state.
Found in these States:
FL
Diet: Scarlet snakes primarily feed on the eggs of other snakes and lizards.
Reproduction: Florida scarlet snakes are oviparous. Mating occurs in March through June, with 3 to 8 eggs laid in mid summer, and hatching in early fall. Hatchlings are 5.1 to 5.9 inches in length.
Status: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.
»» Kingdom: Animalia - Animals
»» Phylum: Chordata - Chordates
»» Subphylum: Vertebrata - Vertebrates
»» Class: Reptilia - Reptiles
»» Order: Squamata - Scaled Reptiles
»» Suborder: Serpentes
»» Superfamily: Colubroidea
»» Family: Colubridae - Colubrids
»» Genus: Cemophora
»» Species: Cemophora coccinea - Scarlet Snakes
»» Subspecies: Cemophora coccinea coccinea - Florida Scarlet Snake
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cemophora coccinea coccinea", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.
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