Printable VersionCommon Name:
Western Worm Snake
Scientific Name:
Carphophis vermis
Category:
Small, Garden Variety Snakes
Identification:
8-14 inches. Black above, pink or scarlet below and up to the third scale row; eyes tiny; scales smooth and in 13 rows; small, harmless spine on the tip of the tail.
Habits:
Worm snakes burrow in loose soil and leaf litter in deciduous forest, occasionally concealing themselves beneath logs. They lay from 1-6 eggs.
Distribution:
The wooded blufflands between Mer Rouge and Wisner (Macon Ridge), now almost completely deforested; an old record from near Gayle; not seen in Louisiana since the 1960s.
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