Smooth Earth Snake

Virginia valeriae

Smooth Earth Snake

SESN

Status

The Smooth Earth Snake is currently listed by South Carolina and Virginia as a species of special concern.

Reasons for Current Status

The Smooth Earth Snake is apparently scarce and has a spotty distribution throughout much of South Carolina (Gibbons and others 1979).

Description

The Smooth Earth Snake is a small (18-39.3 cm), smooth-scaled, stout-bodied, brown or gray snake. It may have a series of small dark spots dorsally, and the venter is whitish. Three subspecies have been described: elegans, pulchra, and valeriae.

Distribution

Virginia valeriae ranges from New Jersey to northern Florida and westward to Iowa, Kansas, and Texas (Conant and Collins 1991). An apparently disjunct population occurs in south Florida.

Habitat

This snake is primarily fossorial, being found beneath logs, rocks, and similar cover in mesic, open woodlands, forest edges, and wooded residential areas (Martof and others 1980).  Associated vegetative types for this species include: white oak-red oak, mixed pine-hardwoods, and open grassy meadows (grass/forb stage of regeneration).

Special Requirements

This snake requires sufficient cover in the form of logs, rocks, leaf litter, and humus.

Breeding Habits

Little is known about the breeding and courtship habits of this secretive species. It is ovoviviparous with litter sizes ranging from four to fourteen young (Mount 1975).

Food Habits

The food of the Smooth Earth Snake includes earthworms, insects and their larvae, and other arthropods.

Management Suggestions

Without more life history information, no management measures can be prescribed at this time.

Additional References

Powell and others 1992; Wright and Wright 1957.