The Green Colored Snake

Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus): a beautiful, easy to identify, green animal, 3

Slender is the word when describing this beautiful and fragile looking reptile that grows to about 30 inches in length but is not much thicker than a pencil. It is appropriately named the green snake, or more correctly the rough green snake, to distinguish it from the smooth green snake of the northeast (the terms rough and smooth refer to the condition of their scales). Its back and sides are a uniform light green color which allows it to blend in so very well among the bushes and vines where it spends much of its time. In these settings it is almost impossible to see, but it becomes very obvious when it crawls across a red dirt path, a roadway, or the weathered wood of your backyard deck. You cannot mistake it for any other species. Green snakes eat insects and other small invertebrates.

Note: recently killed green snakes surprisingly often turn quite blue in coloration. So, if you see a slender dead "blue snake" on the road, it is (or unfortunately was) a "green snake."