Snakes in Indiana

Roughly 39 taxa (plural of taxon, which I use as a term to refer to each specific "kind" of snake in order to encompass each species and subspecies) of native snakes can be found in the wilds of Indiana. These snakes can be organized into three broad categories, based on the anatomy of their envenomation system.

While nine snakes are nonvenomous and pose minimal threat to humans, 26 are rear-fanged venomous snakes that are capable of producing mild envenomation symptoms (only in rare cases; find out why), and four are front-fanged venomous snakes that can cause significant injury to humans, even death.

I would like to emphasize that the rear-fanged snakes listed on here really don't pose any significant threat to people and can be considered relatively harmless. Their classification as "rear-fanged" is based on the fact they possess rear-fangs (enlarged, and sometimes grooved, teeth towards the back of the mouth) and functional Duvernoy's (venom) glands that produce venom. Nonvenomous snakes in Indiana are "ratsnakes" and their close cousins, which have evolved to "lose" their rear-fangs and venom systems in favor of a mechanical means (constriction) of subduing prey.

You will notice three tables below, listing each snake taxon in Indiana, organized by scientific name. This collection of snakes was assembled using distribution information from a variety of secondary literature sources (field guides, books, etc.), with the currently used/accepted taxonomy being derived from http://www.reptile-database.org/ .

Although the Western Mud Snake (Farancia abacura reinwardtii) is considered extirpated from the state, and the Western Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma) is in danger of becoming extirpated (only being present in Dubois and Harrison counties), they were included in this list.

Additional data on each snake taxon (such as the number of scale rows, the presence of keeled scales, condition of the anal plate, and maximum total length) is included in the tables in order to accompany the information in the next hub, which describes how to identify the snakes listed here (as well as how to count scale rows, determine whether scales are "keeled," and how to distinguish between a single or divided anal plate). Maximum (record) total snake lengths were rounded up to the nearest inch and then converted into millimeters.

With only four snake species of "real" concern in Indiana, and three of those being endangered, Hoosiers get off fairly easy when it comes to their chances of encountering a dangerous, front-fanged venomous snake (leaving just the Copperhead as a potential problem animal in the southern half of the state). Please keep in mind that the best thing to do when you find a snake is to keep your distance and leave the animal alone (as it will often avoid humans as well), regardless of what species it is. This advice is for your own (as well as the snake's) safety, as it is still possible to contract certain diseases from nonvenomous snakebites (e.g., tetanus, salmonella, influenza A/B).

It is absolutely critical that you do not engage in the persecution and killing of snakes because they are not only integral parts of the environment (feasting upon many creatures often considered as pests: slugs, spiders, centipedes, rodents, squirrels, rabbits, sparrows), but are also becoming increasingly important in the pharmaceutical industry and for cancer research.

The next hub covers how to identify these snakes of Indiana, which you may feel free to explore after taking the quiz below to test your understanding about general Indiana snake knowledge. You can also check out the video below, which shows a rear-fanged venomous snake hunting for food along a shoreline in an Indiana forest. If you would like to learn more about snakes, please see the Amazon links below for some useful book resources. Click here if you have further questions about snakes that are not addressed by this article on Indiana Snakes (or any other articles in this Indiana Snake hub series).

I would like to start off by thanking Ken and Hoffa (sp?), who were kind enough to see my 30 minute talk on venomous snakes (discussing identification and their importance) at Chain O' Lakes State Park on 8/3/12 and encouraged/inspired me to write this article.

This article is intended to educate people ranging from snake experts to laymen about the species and subspecies of snakes that may be found in Indiana, as well as their venomous status. This information contains generalizations and by no means encompasses all exceptions to the most common "rules" presented here. This information comes from my personal experience/knowledge as well as various primary (journal articles) and secondary (books) literature sources (and can be made available upon request). All pictures and videos, unless specifically noted otherwise, are my property and may not be used in any form, to any degree, without my express permission (please send email inquiries to christopher.j.rex@gmail.com).

I wholly believe feedback can be a useful tool for helping make the world a better place, so I welcome any (positive or negative) that you might feel compelled to offer. But, before actually leaving feedback, please consider the following two points: 1. Please mention in your positive comments what you thought was done well, and mention in your negative comments how the article can be altered to better suit your needs/expectations; 2. If you intend on criticizing "missing" information that you feel would be relevant to this article, please be sure you read through the other article in this Indiana Snake series first in order to see if your concerns are addressed there.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to find out how you can help support snake venom research examining the pharmaceutical potential of various snake venom compounds, please check out my profile. Thank you for reading!

1. Behler, J., King, F., 1979. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians (Chanticleer Press ed.). Knopf, NY.

2. Conant, R., Collins, J.T., 1998. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.

3. MacGowan, B.J., Kingsbury, B.A., 2001. Snakes of Indiana. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

4. Minton, S.A., 2001. Amphibians and Reptiles of Indiana (Rev. 2nd ed.). Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis, IN.
5. The Reptile Database. Retrieved April 23, 2013, from http://www.reptile-database.org.