Kids love snakes in Central Florida. It’s a scientific fact. If you don’t believe me, just ask my 4-year-old niece. She’s been obsessed with them ever since we moved here last year.
Every time we go for a walk in the park, she’s on the lookout for snakes. And when she finds one, she gets so excited. “Auntie, look at the snake!” she’ll say, before running over to take a closer look.
I don’t know what it is about snakes that fascinate kids so much, but they sure do seem to love them. Maybe it’s because they’re so different from anything else kids see in their everyday lives. Or maybe it’s because they’re a bit of a mystery.
Whatever the reason, Central Florida is the perfect place for kids who love snakes. With all of the parks and nature preserves here, there are plenty of opportunities to see these slithery creatures in their natural habitat.
So if your child is fascinated by snakes, be sure to bring them to Central Florida – they’ll love it!
If you reside in Florida, you’ve undoubtedly experienced at least one snake encounter. While snakes may be scary, they are very prevalent in Florida. Florida is home to 44 distinct kinds of native snakes due to its year-round mild weather, but there are also invasive species in the state.
While some snakes in Florida are innocuous, some may be very deadly. As a result, it’s important to understand the many kinds of snakes you may meet in Florida, especially those that are drawn to Orlando homes.
The 18 most common snakes in Florida are listed here.
In Florida, there are 12 non-venomous snakes:
The following are the most common non-venomous snakes found in Florida:
1. Banded Water Snake
2. Black Pine Snake
3. Black Racer
4. Black Rat Snake
5. Blue Stripe Garter Snake
6. Burmese Python
7. Common Kingsnake
8. Eastern Coachwhip
9. Eastern Corn Snake
10. Florida Rough Green Snake
11. Florida Water Snake
12. Indigo Snake
What snakes are deadly in Central Florida?
The eastern coral snake, the southern copperhead, the cottonmouth, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake, and the dusky pygmy rattlesnake are the only six poisonous snakes found in Florida. The majority of Florida snakes are harmless and helpful in that they help to control rodent populations.
What are the most common snakes in Orlando Florida?
1. Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
2. Burmese Python
3. Black Rat Snake
4. Black Pine Snake
5. Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake is North America’s biggest poisonous snake. The average adult Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake is 33-72 inches (84-183 cm) long, with a record length of 99 inches (251.5 cm). A series of huge black diamonds with brown centers and cream borders runs along the back of this enormous, heavy-bodied snake. The body has a brownish base color.
Habitat and Behavior
From southern North Carolina through Florida and west to Louisiana, these stout-bodied pit vipers may be found in dry pine Flatwoods, sandy woodlands, and coastal scrub environments. They have one of the most distinctive patterns of any North American reptiles, with yellow-bordered, light-centered black diamonds. They are natural exterminators, surviving on rats, mice, squirrels, and birds as well as other home pests.
Diet and feeding behavior
Diamond-backed in the East Rattlesnakes like to eat animals and, on rare occasions, birds. Rabbits, cotton rats, mice, squirrels, and birds are the main sources of food for adults, whereas mice and rats are preferred by youngsters. These snakes may actively hunt prey by following their smell trails, but they are more likely to ambush victims by sitting and waiting.
Burmese Python
The average adult Burmese Python is 10-16 feet (3-5 meters) long. Dark brown streaks run along the back and sides of these big, stout-bodied snakes. The blotches vary in size and form, and they are black-bordered. Between the blotches, the backdrop is typically tan, tannish yellow, or cream-colored.
Habitat
Burmese Pythons have been discovered in and around undeveloped seasonally flooded wetlands (such as the Florida Everglades), tree islands, hardwood hammocks, prairies, mangrove salt marshes, melaleuca and Brazilian pepper stands, agricultural areas, man-made canals and lakes, and housing developments in Florida.
Diet and feeding behavior
Burmese Pythons consume a variety of animals (including deer) and birds, but they will even eat alligators on occasion. These snakes have a lot of strength when it comes to constriction.
Black Rat Snake
Eastern rat snakes, sometimes known as black rat snakes, are big non-venomous snakes that range in length from 3.5 to 7 feet (one to two meters). They have a glossy black back and a light-colored belly, as well as a white neck and chin. An eastern rat snake’s head is larger than its neck and the rest of its body.
Range
From Connecticut to South Carolina, and west to the center of Kansas and Oklahoma, eastern rat snakes may be found in fields, woods, farmlands, and near suburban areas. Hawks and other snakes are predators.
Diet and feeding behavior
Eastern rat snakes can swim and climb quite well. They’ll utilize these abilities to capture anything from bird eggs to frogs. They are the most common snake seen in and near buildings, where they forage for rodents, amphibians, and young birds. Eastern rat snakes are constrictor snakes that smother their victims with their bodies.
BEHAVIOR
When confronted by a predator, rat snakes produce a foul-smelling stench. The flavor of this musk is similar to that of poison.
Pine Snake
A big snake with a fairly thick body, short tail, and tiny head was only slightly broader than the neck (max. total length = 188 cm [74 in.]). Anal scute undivided; scales keeled except for part of the lowermost rows; rostral scute (at the tip of snout) larger, curving backward and terminating in a point between and behind nostrils.
DISTRIBUTION
From extreme southeastern Louisiana through southern Mississippi and into southwestern Alabama lies the Coastal Plain. In Alabama, it has been found in Mobile, Clarke, and Washington counties, and it is most likely to be found in southern Choctaw County (Mount 1975).
HABITAT
Longleaf pine forest with open canopy, low midstory, and thick herbaceous understory, typically on hilltops, ridges, and near the summits of slopes, with sandy, well-drained soils favored.
Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake
The average length of an adult Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnake is 12-24 inches (30-61 cm), with a record length of 31 inches (79 cm). This snake is very tiny, yet it is quite thick for its size. A longitudinal row of black or charcoal blotches interrupts a reddish-brown stripe running down the center of the back, and the body color ranges from light to dark gray. On the flanks, dark dots appear that match up with the dorsal blotches. The tail is long and thin, with a little rattle near the end.
Habitat
Lowland pine Flatwoods, hydric hammocks, prairies, surrounding lakes and ponds, and along the borders of numerous freshwater marshes and cypress swamps are all typical habitats for Pygmy Rattlesnakes.
Along the sides of canals flowing through marshes and grasslands is perhaps the most common habitat for Dusky Pygmy Rattlesnakes, at least in southern Florida.
Diet and feeding behavior
Centipedes and other arthropods, frogs, snakes, lizards, and small mammals are among the tiny food that Pygmy Rattlesnakes eat. These snakes may actively hunt prey by following their smell trails, but they are more likely to ambush victims by sitting and waiting.
Wrapping Up…
Kids love snakes in Central Florida. They’re just so darn cute! And what’s not to love about a slithery reptile that can disappear into the underbrush in the blink of an eye?
If only they could teach kids, how to be more stealthy, they might have a chance of avoiding those dreaded math tests! Thanks for the lessons, snakes—you’re the best!
