Pigmy Rattlesnake

Sistrurus miliarius

Pigmy Rattlesnake

PIRA

Status

It is rare in the mountains and Piedmont (Harrison, 1976) and uncommon or secretive on the Coastal Plain (Gibbons, 1978). It is common throughout Florida and localities such as the Okeefenokee Swamp. The western subspecies, S. m. streckeri, is listed as threatened in Tennessee.

Reasons for Current Status

The Pigmy Rattlesnake, Sistrurus m. streckeri, is listed as threatened in Tennessee because of its limited distribution and infrequent occurrence.

Description

The Pigmy Rattlesnake is a small (38–76 cm), slender-bodied,venomous snake with large, symmetrical plates or scales on the top of the head and a very small rattle at the tail tip. Three subspecies are recognized: streckeri, miliarius, and barbouri.

Distribution

This species occurs from coastal North Carolina south to the tip of Florida and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma (Conant and Collins 1991).

Habitat

This rattlesnake occurs in most terrestrial habitats. It appears to be most common in wet savannas, swamps, and hardwood-dominated floodplains, but is also found with some regularity in scrub oak, forests, pine-hardwood uplands, longleaf pine or loblolly pine flatwoods, bayheads, flatwood ponds, and dense palmetto thickets (Klauber 1972; Mount, 1975; Conant and Collins 1991).

Special Requirements

This species requires stumps, dense thickets, logs, and similar shelter.

Breeding Habits

It apparently breeds in late fall or spring, and the ovoviviparous female gives birth to 3–13 young in late August or September.

Food Habits

The Pigmy Rattlesnake preys on mice, young birds, frogs, lizards, snakes, and insects (Conant and Bridges 1939).

Additional References

Martof and others 1980; Palmer and Williamson 1971.