Snakes in Arkansas

Arkansas is home to about 40+ snake species, and only 6 of them are venomous. As in the rest of the region, that means the large majority of snakes here are harmless. The state sits where the southeastern lowlands meet the more western Ozark and Ouachita highlands, and that overlap gives it a broad and interesting snake fauna.

The diversity follows that east-meets-west geography. The Ozark and Ouachita mountains hold forest, rocky-glade, and bluff species, while the Mississippi Delta in the east is full of bottomland hardwood forest, swamps, and oxbow lakes. River valleys, prairies, and pine woods in the south add more habitat. Because Arkansas straddles two regions, it picks up some species more typical of the West alongside the usual southeastern snakes.

The venomous snakes group cleanly. The Eastern Copperhead and the Northern Cottonmouth are pit vipers, the copperhead common in rocky woods and the cottonmouth tied to swamps, sloughs, and slow waters. The rattlesnakes include the Timber Rattlesnake of the forests and ridges, the small Pygmy Rattlesnake, and the Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake, a more western species that reaches into the state's drier southwestern country. The Texas Coralsnake is a secretive banded elapid found in the south, staying in leaf litter and burrows and rarely seen. The familiar color rhymes only roughly apply in the US and should not be used to identify a snake.

Most snakes Arkansans see are harmless. Black racers and rat snakes are common around homes, barns, and woods, kingsnakes are welcome because they eat other snakes, and garter snakes are a garden regular. Several watersnakes share the rivers and swamps with cottonmouths and are routinely mistaken for them. On safety, the honest reality is that most bites happen when people try to handle or kill a snake, and deaths are very rare thanks to antivenom and medical care. Never handle a wild snake, and if a bite occurs, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or 911.