Snakes in Tennessee

Tennessee is home to about 40+ snake species, and only 3 of them are venomous. That is a reassuringly small fraction, so nearly every snake you encounter in the state is harmless. Tennessee runs a long way east to west, and that breadth gives it a solid mix of species without the large venomous roster of states farther south.

The diversity follows the state's geography. The Appalachian mountains and forested ridges of the east hold cool-woods and rocky-slope species, the central basin and Cumberland Plateau add woodland and field snakes, and the western lowlands along the Mississippi River bring bottomland forests, swamps, and oxbow wetlands. Caves, rocky bluffs, river systems, and farmland all factor in, creating a range of conditions that different snakes exploit.

Tennessee's venomous snakes are few and easy to group. The Eastern Copperhead is the most common, a pit viper of wooded hillsides, rocky areas, and suburban edges across most of the state. The Timber Rattlesnake is the other widespread pit viper, found in forests and on rocky ridges. The Northern Cottonmouth is a pit viper restricted mostly to the wetlands and slow waters of the far western part of the state, near the Mississippi River. Tennessee has no coral snake, so there is no banded elapid to learn here.

The snakes residents most often see are harmless. Black racers and rat snakes are common around homes, barns, and fields, kingsnakes are useful because they hunt and eat other snakes, and garter snakes are a familiar garden sight. Northern watersnakes patrol creeks and lakes and are constantly mistaken for cottonmouths even in parts of the state where cottonmouths do not occur. 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.