Snakes in Louisiana

Louisiana hosts about 50+ snake species, of which only 6 are venomous. The state is famously wet, and that water-soaked landscape supports a deep snake fauna, but the overwhelming majority of those snakes are harmless. Long warm seasons keep snakes active for most of the year across the bayous, woods, and uplands.

Water defines Louisiana's habitats and its snake diversity. The Mississippi River floodplain, the Atchafalaya Basin, coastal marshes, cypress swamps, and countless bayous create vast wetland habitat for water-loving species. Away from the lowlands, pine forests, hardwood bottoms, and sandy uplands in the north and west add drier-country snakes. This blend of swamp and forest is why Louisiana's list is so long.

The venomous snakes group plainly. The Eastern Copperhead and the Northern Cottonmouth are pit vipers, the copperhead favoring woods and the cottonmouth firmly tied to swamps, bayous, and slow waters where it is one of the most encountered venomous snakes in the state. The rattlesnakes are the Timber Rattlesnake of the bottomland and upland forests and the small Pygmy Rattlesnake. Louisiana has two coral snakes on its list, the Texas Coralsnake in the west and the Eastern Coralsnake, both secretive banded elapids that stay in leaf litter and burrows and are rarely seen. The familiar red, yellow, and black color rhymes only roughly apply in the US and are not a safe way to identify a snake.

Most snakes Louisianans actually see are harmless. Black racers and rat snakes are common around homes and fields, kingsnakes are valued because they hunt and eat other snakes, and garter snakes turn up in gardens. A wide variety of watersnakes share the bayous and swamps with cottonmouths and are constantly killed in cases of mistaken identity. On safety, the honest fact 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.