Deadly Snakes Are Out In Texas

Late spring and summer in Texas bring wildflowers, warm sunny days, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors. We gather in parks, rivers, lakes, and beaches.

Here in Texas, Pit Vipers are everywhere. They are venomous snakes with an opening on each side of the head between the eye and the nostril. In Texas, we have Copperheads, Cottonmouths, and Rattlesnakes. I checked out the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and found lots of info. There is actually a Texas Cobra, too. The Coral Snake is in the same family as African Cobras. 

Copperheads

Copperheads have chestnut or reddish-brown crossbands on a lighter-colored body. These snakes are found in rocky and wooded bottomlands and are rare in dry areas. In the spring, they can be found along streams and rivers and in weed-covered vacant lots. 

Cottonmouths

Also known as 'water moccasins,' only one recognized species in Texas is the Western cottonmouth. Cottonmouths can be dark brown, olive brown, olive green, or almost solid black. They are marked with wide, dark bands, which are more distinct in some individuals than others. Juvenile snakes are more brilliantly marked. The cottonmouth gets its name from the white tissue inside its mouth, which it displays when threatened. Over the state's eastern half, it is found in swamps, sluggish waterways, coastal marshes, rivers, ponds, and streams.

Rattlesnakes

Western diamondback

Diamondback Rattlesnake is brown and has diamond-shaped markings along the middle of the back and alternating black and white rings on the tail. It is the most widespread venomous snake in Texas, in all but the easternmost part of the state.

Timber rattlesnake, or Canebreak rattlesnake, is brown or tan with wide, dark crossbands. The tail is entirely black. Timber rattlesnakes are found in the eastern third of the state in wooded areas in wet bottomlands.

A Mottled Rock rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus) has a light bream or pink background with widely spaced, dark crossbands and mottled areas between them. It is found in the mountainous regions of West Texas.

Banded Rock rattlesnake is similar to the mottled rock rattlesnake but with a darker greenish-gray. It is found only in the extreme western tip of Texas.

The blacktail rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) is gray to olive green with dark blotches along the back and a black tail. It is found in bushes and on rocky ledges from Central Texas throughout most of West Texas.

Mojave rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) is similar to the western diamondback in markings but smaller, more slender, and found only in extreme West Texas.

A prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis) is a slender rattler that is greenish or grayish with rounded blotches down the middle of its back. It is found in the grassy plains of the state's western third.

Western Massasauga

It is light gray, with brown oval blotches along the middle of the back and smaller blotches along each side. It is two feet long and found throughout the state in grasslands, marshy, and swampy areas.

Desert Massasaugas are lighter in color, smaller, and more slender than western Massasaugas. They are found in the Trans-Pecos, western Panhandle, and lower Rio Grande Valley.

Coral Snakes

The brightly colored Texas coral snake is the state's only member of the Elapidae family, which includes Asiatic and African cobras. It is found in the southeastern half of Texas in woodlands, canyons, and coastal plains.