Snakes in Alaska

Alaska has no native snakes. It is the only U.S. state with effectively none at all. There are zero established snake species here, venomous or harmless, so the snake count for Alaska is simply 0. If you live in or visit Alaska, you do not need to worry about snakes in the wild, because there are none to find.

The reason is the climate. Snakes are cold-blooded and depend on outside heat to stay active, digest food, and survive the winter. Alaska's long, deep-freeze winters and short, cool summers never give snakes the sustained warmth they need to establish a breeding population. The same cold that keeps the land treeless across much of the north and west also keeps it snakeless. A rare individual snake might turn up as an accidental stowaway in cargo or plants shipped from the Lower 48, but these do not survive to establish themselves in the wild.

Because there are no native snakes and no venomous species, there is no snakebite risk to plan for in Alaska, and no venomous-snake first aid to learn for the outdoors here. That said, never handle any unfamiliar animal you do not recognize, and if you ever encounter a snake that arrived as a stowaway, leave it alone and report it to Alaska Department of Fish and Game rather than touching it. For any animal bite or poisoning concern anywhere, Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or 911 is the right call.