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Common Snakes of Ohio

There are around 25 different snake types found in Ohio and out of them, three are said to be highly lethal. With rugged hills, steep valleys, long rivers, big lakes, drainage basins, and isolated islands the state has much to offer the average snake foraging on water-dwelling critters such as toads,frogs, and even salamandersand newts.



Venomous snakes of Ohio
In the entire region, there are only three vicious snakes and they are:

  • Timber Rattlesnake
  • Northern Copperhead
These serpents are very dangerous and aggressive in nature. Some of them will only strike a person when they are threatened. They are all vipers and one common thing about them is the little amount of venom they inject to you as opposed to that they inject to prey. 25% of pit vipers actually dry bite people, meaning the bite has no poison but it is very painful and causes massive tissue damages. Some will strike you repeatedly depending on the level of discomfort they are in.

Non-venomous snakes
As much as they are referred to as non-venomous, the snakes are actually brutal to other small animals they feed on. Most of the snakes in this region fall under this category. These snakes have a spoon shaped head with a rounded snout. They also have eyes which have a round pupil and have no characteristic fangs in their mouth. You can also identify them by their lack of a pit between their eyes and nostrils and a double row of scales with a divided anal plate at the tails.

Common Water snake and rat snakes
A slightly longer snake developing to around 40-45 inches of maximumlength, this grey, black, red / brown,brown or dark snake gets deeper in colour when they age, and generally has a much brighter underbelly although decorations will vary across the state.Rat snakes are very common especially around residential areas. They actually eat venomous snakes and other rodents which makes them very useful in the ecosystem.

Eastern Hognose and Northern Ring-Necked
It earns its name from the shape of its nose. It eats toads and frogs and for it to enjoy its prey, it has to dig them up from moist soil around water. They grow to around 20-30 inches long and are widespread in the entire Ohio. Olive, grey, brown or black, you will find Northern Ring-Necked in south, east and central Ohio. They have a typical yellow-neck ring with an off white/cream, orange or yellow colour. Others that are common include queen snakes, Kirtland’s Snake, Worm snake, Brown snake, Eastern Smooth Earth snake and many more.

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