Green Snake

Green snakes feature beautifully bright green dorsal scales and help control insect populations in gardens, crops, or wherever they live.

Green snakes are the only solid, bright green snakes in North America. There are two species, the smooth green snake and the rough green snake, and they are nonvenomous and non-threatening to humans. Instead, they serve humans, gardens, and agriculture well by feeding mainly on soft-shelled arthropods and insects.

Four Amazing Facts

• Both types of green snakes lay between 3 and 13 eggs per clutch.
• The smooth green snake gets its name from its smooth dorsal scales of bright green.
• The rough green snake is so named because its green dorsal scales are rough in texture and appearance.
• The translation of their scientific names are “spring snake tree” and “summer snake tree,” which happen to be the times of year that the snakes are most easily found. Only the rough green snake lives in trees, though.

Scientific Name

The green snake is within the family Colubridae, subfamily Colubrinae, and genus Opheodrys.

The smooth green snake’s scientific name is Opheodrys vernalis Opheodrys comes from the Greek word ophios meaning “snake” and drys meaning “tree.” Vernalis comes from the Old Latin vesnālis, meaning “spring.”

The rough green snake’s scientific name is Opheodrys aestivus. Aestivus is Latin for “summer.”

The Two Species

Originally, the species Opheodrys included classification of seven other types of green snakes. But two of these were transferred to the genus Cyclophiops in 1981. Both of those snakes are native to Asian geographies and are not found in North America. Five other subspecies of Opheodrys in North America are no longer recognized as different from rough green snakes or smooth green snakes, so they are classified with them

The characteristics of the two species of green snakes in North America are:

• Smooth green snakes live in their ground habitats up to 6 years, have smooth dorsal scales, and reach lengths up to 26 inches.
• Rough green snakes live in their tree habitats up to 8 years, have rough dorsal scales, and grow up to 37 inches long.

Appearance and Description

Green snakes are typically bright green from nose to tail tip on the dorsal (back) side of their body. The sides are also the same color green. The snake’s belly is usually cream or yellow in color. A smooth green snake has a smooth appearance on its dorsal scales, while its rough green snake counterpart has a rough dorsal scale appearance and texture.

Juvenile snakes in this genus are often tan, brown or gray in color, growing more green as they develop. As a full-grown snake, the green body color can be a subdued green or a very bright, grassy or leafy color.

Green snakes are thin-bodied with females being larger than males. The head of the snakes is only slightly broader than the neck and oval in shape.

In summary, a green snake can be identified by:

• Bright green dorsal and side color for full-grown snakes
• Adults measuring between 26″ and 37″
• Yellow to cream underside color
• Oval-shaped head only slightly broader than neck
• Juveniles sometimes tan, brown or gray in color
• Thin bodied

Behavior and Humans

Green snakes like to eat spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, moths, and butterflies. They also play a significant role in the ecosystem as food for their predators, including birds like crows and hawks, other snakes, foxes and raccoons.

Green snakes are not venomous or aggressive to humans. They prefer to flee the area and hide upon sighting a human. The snakes do provide helpful service to people, particularly in the realm of pest control for gardens and crops. Green snakes feed on soft-shelled arthropods that damage plants like spiders, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies and moths.

Location

Green snakes live from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including within most states of the United States. In the U.S., their geographic range is from North Dakota, South Dakota, eastern Montana, Wyoming and Utah eastward, with eastern states having higher populations of the snakes. Both smooth and rough green snakes are basically non-existent in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada. They are also not found in British Colombia or Alberta, being mostly from Saskatchewan eastward to the Atlantic coast.

The snakes’ habitat is mostly in moist areas with lush greenery in which they can camouflage themselves and hunt for prey. Both the smooth green snake and the rough green snake prefers living near water sources, like ponds or lakes. But smooth green snakes live primarily on the ground in grasses, prairies, meadows, gardens, forests and other foliage. Their rough counterparts spend nights mostly up in trees, hedges and bushes off the ground and along a shoreline.

Because the snakes mate from spring to early summer and lay eggs from June to September, you are most likely to see full grown green snakes during the spring or summer. Smooth green snakes are most easily found in spring and rough green snakes are most easily found in summer (thus their names).

Juveniles are independent upon hatching in August or September. Overall, green snakes are active from April to October and hibernate during cold winter months. During that hibernation, usually from December to February at least, you will not typically find a green snake in the wild.

Population & Conservation Status

Both green snakes, smooth and rough, are listed as of “least concern” by the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. The populations are also listed as stable.

The highest population counts of green snakes are in Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina. These states have at least hundreds of green snakes, with Texas having nearly 2000 counted specimens in the wild. Other states and provinces of Canada range between low counts of tens or dozens to a few hundred per counted population. Only low counts of below 10 green snakes per population are found in northern Mexico.

How Dangerous Are They?

Green snakes are not dangerous or aggressive to humans. They are non-venomous and therefore not poisonous to people or pets. In fact, many people try to keep green snakes as pets, although it is difficult for captive green snakes to live long without professional care. If choosing a green snake as a pet, it is best to select a rough green snake and exercise great care with a veterinarian’s ongoing advice. According to many reports, smooth green snakes often will not eat in captivity and die from starvation.

Upon seeing a human or predator, a green snake will generally flee. If cornered or threatened, they sometimes thrash or bite. This is particularly true if held by a human. But the snakes do not have fangs and their bite is not poisonous. It should not cause injury to people or pets, such as cats or dogs. If you keep a green snake as a pet, you must take great care to handle it calmly. It takes time and persistent handling for a green snake to get used to being around people.