They are uncommon, but are present on land set aside to conserve ecosystems, such as the Everglades National Park.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
No adverse affects on humans are known at this time.
In Florida, reptiles are one of the main contributors to a stable ecosystem. They hold some important ranks in the food chain. They also help keep rodents and other pests under control.
(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996)
The Pine Woods Snake is carnivorous. Their primary food sources are small lizards, salamanders, frogs (especially hylids), snakes, and insects. Fangs in the rear of its mouth are used to subdue its prey. Its weak venom is used to immobilized the prey before being swallowed. The Pine woods snake's salivary toxins are no defense against the Ophiophagus Eastern and Scarlet Kingsnakes.
(Burton 1991, Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Tennant 1997)
Rhadinaea flavilata is most prevalent in Florida; it is found throughout most of the peninsula south to around Lake Okeechobee. There are also isolated populations in the central panhandle. Outside of Florida, it is found in isolated populations along the coastal plain from North Carolina to eastern Louisiana.
(Florida Museum of Natural History, 1996)
Biogeographic Regions: atlantic ocean (Native )
The Pine Woods Snake is found in heavily shaded, damp ground litter of lowland pine flatwoods, as its name would indicate. These snakes are rarely seen in pinelands, freshwater marshes, hardwood hammocks, cypress strands, bayheads, barrier islands in tidal marshes, sandhills, mixed harwood forests, and pine forest. Rhadinaea flavilata occasionally found under rotting logs and leaves, but most often under the bark of dead pine trees. Pine Woods Snakes also tend to turn up in areas where the pine flatwoods habitat has been lost to urban development and all that remains is slash pines scattered among the houses. They even have been found under the pine straw that accumulates on the roofs of houses in southwest peninsular Florida.
(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Carmichael 1999)
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Rhadinaea flavilata adults are slender and average 10-12 inches (25.4-30.4 cm). They are yellowish-brown to reddish with whitish-yellow lips and a thin dark line running from the corner of the jaw, through the eye, to the nose. The chin is also light colored. Underneath they are solid whitish-yellow. The scales are smooth, with 17 scale rows dorsally at midbody. The anal plate is divided. Pupils are round. Juveniles have similar physical features to that of adults.
(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Carmichael 1999)
Eggs are laid in a small clutch, no natural nests are known. The breeding season is from March to early May. Producing two-four inch long eggs between May and August. The eggs hatch during the summer months. Young are approximately 5 inches (12.7 cm)upon hatching.
(Florida Museum of Natural History 1996, Tennant 1997)
The pine woods snake (Rhadinaea flavilata), also commonly known as the yellow-lipped snake or the brown-headed snake,[5] is a species of secretive colubrid found in scattered locations across the south-eastern United States. Rhadinaea flavilata is rear-fanged and mildly-venomous, but not dangerous to humans.[6]
R. flavilata is a small reddish brown to yellowish brown or dark orange snake with a whitish to yellowish, unmarked underside. A dark stripe runs through the eye. A light stripe may be present along the middle of the back. The upper labial scales (lip scales) are a whitish or pale yellow color which led to its other common name, the yellow-lipped snake.[7][8]
Pine woods snakes average between 10 and 13 inches (25–33 cm) in total length (including tail) at adult size.[9]
R. flavilata is found in scattered localities in coastal North Carolina and South Carolina, most of peninsular Florida, and small portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. The pine snake inhabits pine and mixed-pine hardwood forests. They can be found in damp woodlands, under bark and in rotten logs and stumps.[9] The species has a scattered geographic distribution with large expanses occurring between known populations.[8]
Because many R. flavilata are found in warm coastal areas, they are active for most of the year. They will hibernate underground or in logs in cold winter conditions. There is little information about the diet of the R. flavilata. Captive species prey on small frogs, salamanders and small lizards.[8][9]
Pine woods snakes lay eggs.[10] There is little know information about reproduction. Mating probably occurs in the spring and one to four eggs are laid during the summer months. Some females lay two clutches of eggs each year. The incubation period is six to eight weeks.[8]
Natural predators of the R. flavilata include the Southern black racer and the Kingsnake, as well as carnivorous pine forest animals. Shrews, birds and toads are likely predators. Pine woods snakes do not bite when picked up but they can release a foul-smelling odor.[8]
The pine woods snake (Rhadinaea flavilata), also commonly known as the yellow-lipped snake or the brown-headed snake, is a species of secretive colubrid found in scattered locations across the south-eastern United States. Rhadinaea flavilata is rear-fanged and mildly-venomous, but not dangerous to humans.
Adult .JPG)
Detail of head
