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Texas Brown Snake
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- Order: Squamata (scaled reptiles)
- Suborder: Serpentes (=Ophidia) (snakes)
- Family: Colubridae (typical snakes)
- Subfamily: Natricinae (water, garter, and
related snakes)
- Genus: Storeria (brown and redbelly
snakes)
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| Also Known As: DeKay's
snake |
Scientific Name: Storeria dekayi
texana Trapido, 1944 |
| Habitat: A variety of
terrain from prairie to woodland, and often near human habitation. |
Storeria in honor of Dr. David H. Storer, dekayi
in
honor of zoologist James E. DeKay, texana="from
Texas"
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| Length: To 21 inches total. |
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| Food: Slugs and
earthworms; occasionally insects. |
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| I found this snake in January
2004, in a trash-littered vacant lot while herping with my friend Erik.
We had found one together last year, but it slipped into a creek
and escaped before I could get any pictures. I've also seen
them dead on the road. In addition, I've found this
subspecies (texana) all the way up in Wisconsin (see related
page). This individual was the first live Texas brown
I've found in Texas! |
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| Don't let the picture above fool
you. These snakes typically don't get very big. The
ones I found in Wisconsin were much larger than this
specimen. This picture shows how small this snake was, as it
sits in the palm of my hand. |
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| This snake was found under a
dark-colored board on a not-too-warm day. It was soaking up
the heat absorbed by the board, and initially didn't seem to mind
being held. However, after it warmed up sufficiently, it
started trying to escape. We took a few more pictures and
released it under the board.
See also the brown snakes I found in Oklahoma,
Arkansas
and Wisconsin.
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