Snake identification chart: Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina
Six venomous snakes cover Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina: the eastern coral snake plus five pit vipers, the cottonmouth, the copperhead, the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake and the pigmy rattlesnake. Every one of them is here with a photo, the marks that give it away, and the harmless snake people mix it up with. Pick your state to see where each one turns up.
- Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina share the same six venomous species. Only the ranges inside each state change.
- Pit vipers have a heat-sensing pit between the eye and the nostril, and vertical pupils. Coral snakes have neither, so the pit test does not work on them.
- A triangular head proves nothing. Harmless snakes flatten their heads when cornered, and UF/IFAS says plainly that a triangular head does not indicate a venomous snake.
- In Florida the copperhead only lives in the western Panhandle, just west of Tallahassee, and timber rattlesnakes stay in the north of the state.
- Most bites happen when someone tries to move or kill a snake. Distance plus a phone call beats a shovel.
The venomous snakes in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina
Six species, and the same six in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. Pick your state above to see where each one turns up.
The harmless snakes people mix them up with
The confusion runs in both directions, and it is why harmless water snakes get killed every summer. None of these has a heat pit.
How to tell a venomous snake from a harmless one
Two features separate the five pit vipers from everything harmless in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, and both come from the university extension guides I check first.
- The heat-sensing pit. A small opening between the eye and the nostril, one on each side of the head, which UF/IFAS describes as the pit that gives the group its name. It is how the snake finds warm prey in the dark, and no harmless snake native to these states has one.
- The pupil. Vertical and cat-like in the pit vipers, round in harmless snakes such as the eastern milk snake.
Then the two places where that test falls apart, which is the part most charts leave out.
Coral snakes break the rule. The coral snake is an elapid, not a pit viper. It has no heat-sensing pit and its pupils are round, so it can pass the harmless checks. NC State Extension says elapids are difficult to tell from some harmless snakes for exactly this reason, and that learning patterns is the best way to separate venomous from harmless. That is why the coral snake needs its own lines: red and yellow rings touching, and a black nose, which is how Florida's Poison Control Centers draw it in their public snake chart.
Head shape is the worst of the three. Emergency materials still print "triangular or diamond-shaped head" as a pit viper mark, and it is true that a pit viper has a blocky head wider than its neck. It is not a test you can run on a live snake. Harmless species flatten their heads and flare their jaws when they feel threatened, which makes a rounded head look triangular, and both UF/IFAS and NC State Extension warn about it in the same words.
So the working method is boring: patterns first, range second, and never your hands. UF/IFAS puts it as well as anyone. Because so many harmless snakes look like the dangerous ones, do not attempt to capture, harass or harm any snake.
What to do if someone is bitten
- Call 911 for any venomous bite, and 1-800-222-1222 for advice on a bite you are not sure about.
- Keep the person calm and the bitten area still, raised to heart level.
- Wash gently with warm soapy water and remove rings or tight clothing before swelling starts.
Florida's Poison Control Centers and NC Poison Control publish the same two lists, and this is their wording, not mine.
Do:
- Sit down and stay calm.
- Gently wash the bite area with warm, soapy water.
- Remove jewelry or tight clothing near the bite, before swelling starts.
- Keep the bitten area still, and raise it to heart level.
- Call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222, and call 911 for any venomous bite.
Do not:
- Do not cut the bite to drain venom.
- Do not ice it. Icing causes more tissue damage.
- Do not apply a tourniquet or a tight bandage.
- Do not suck the venom or use a suction device.
- Do not try to catch or kill the snake.
If the person has chest pain, trouble breathing, swelling in the face or loses consciousness, that is an immediate 911 call. A venomous bite usually leaves one or two puncture wounds, and the hospital is the only place that can treat it. Everything sold as a field treatment, including suction kits, is on the do-not list, which I went through in my snake bite kit guide.
If a snake turns up in your yard or house
Both extension services say bites happen when people handle snakes or walk into them, and that is the part you control.
- Give it room and let it leave. Snakes do not chase people. Most of the snakes you will meet in a yard are harmless and are passing through.
- Do not corner it in a room. A snake with no exit acts like any cornered animal. Close the door, block the gap under it, and keep people and pets out.
- Make the yard boring. Tall grass, wood piles and feed spills give a snake somewhere to sit, and rodents give it a reason to stay. My snake proofing checklist covers the order to do it in.
- When it is inside, call someone. See where snakes hide in houses, snake in the attic and what professional snake removal costs before you decide to do it yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Snakes also leave a sign people can pick up with bare hands: the shed skin. I read the scale rows, the keels and the rattle off one in my guide to what a snake shed skin can and cannot tell you.
This chart stays on Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, the three states where I can check the venomous list against the state agency and university extension sources above. The operator directory behind the site is wider, six states in all: Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, Indiana, Louisiana and Virginia.
Look for the heat-sensing pit between the eye and the nostril and for vertical pupils. Those two marks separate the five pit vipers from the harmless snakes in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. They do not work on the coral snake, which has round pupils and no pit, so pattern and range decide that one.
Yes. A young copperhead or cottonmouth is venomous from birth, and the official advice does not change with the size of the snake: call 911 for any venomous bite and Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 for questions. I went into the detail in my guide on baby snakes and venom.
It is a first check, not a verdict. Florida Poison Control uses red and yellow rings touching plus a black nose as the coral snake marks, and everything else banded in red, black and yellow in these states is harmless. If you cannot see the head and the bands clearly, leave the snake alone and treat it as if it were venomous.
The copperhead. NC Poison Control names it first among the five species responsible for most snake bite poisonings in the state, and it is the pit viper most often found near houses and gardens. Almost every bite story starts with someone trying to move or kill the snake.
Do not corner it. Close the room off, put a towel under the door, keep pets away and call a wildlife removal company. I wrote the specific steps for a snake in the attic, a snake in the basement and a snake in the garage.
That depends on the state and the species, and in Florida and North Carolina some native snakes are protected. The safest route is to have a licensed operator move the snake rather than kill it, which is also what the extension services recommend. My snake removal cost guide covers what that visit costs.