JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - You’ve probably seen the posts all over your social media feeds: what kind of snake is this? Is this snake poisonous?
Snake experts tell First Coast News the increase in snake sightings is due to both recent heavy rainfall and higher temperatures.
“With all that rain, things are gonna be moving around,” Mark Beshel, a senior herpetology keeper at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, said. “The snakes that normally find little places under logs to hide…those places are going to be underwater.”
Additionally, Beshel said a snake’s metabolism is based on temperature. As temperatures rise, so do snakes’ body temperatures, increasing their heart rates, breathing and need to find food.
The good news is that the vast majority of snakes in Florida are harmless. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, there are more than 44 native snake species in the state. Just six are venomous.
“And of those, only a few of them are found with any frequency here in the Jacksonville area,” Beshel said.
Instead, Beshel said nonvenomous snakes, like rat snakes, are far more common on the First Coast. He added that red rat snakes are one of the most commonly photographed and posted online due to their similar coloring to the venomous copperhead. Copperheads are not typically found in the Jacksonville area and have a distinctive hourglass pattern down their backs, Beshel said.
There are a few things that distinguish venomous snakes from their harmless counterparts. Beshel said the pupils of nonvenomous snakes are round, while venomous snakes often have elliptical pupils, like a cat’s eye.
Additionally, venomous snakes often have more triangular heads.
Beshel said it can be easier to tell the difference when a snake is in the water.
“The venomous snakes, at least Cottonmouths and all of your rattlesnakes and such, will actually float on the surface of the water,” he said. “Even when they’re at rest, all of their body is visible on the surface of the water. Your water snakes, usually just the head is visible. They can float but mostly under the surface.”
Around the house, Beshel said snakes are commonly found in wood or debris piles, tarps, thick shrubbery and under dense ground cover. He added that bird feeders may attract snakes.
“[Birds are] cool, but they’re messy,” he said. “So they drop their food down on the ground. Well that attracts rodents, rodents attract snakes.”
Overall, there’s just one rule to remember.
“If left alone, [snakes] almost always return the favor,” Beshel said.
If you want to identify a snake you see, Florida Fish and Wildlife has an ID photo gallery here.