North Carolina has rattlesnakes. See how to ID the one you’d most likely spot
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- North Carolina hosts Timber, Eastern Diamondback, and Carolina Pigmy rattlesnakes.
- Timber rattlesnakes can reach 5½ feet, show dark crossbands, and have a rattle.
- A study found North Carolina timber rattlesnakes to be in excellent genetic health.
North Carolina is perhaps better associated with copperheads, but the state is also home to rattlesnakes.
The state is home to timber “canebrake” rattlesnakes, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and Carolina pigmy rattlesnakes. Timber rattlers are the most common of the three, The News & Observer previously reported. All three types are in decline due to habitat destruction, and on the North Carolina Endangered Species list. Timber rattlesnakes are the only ones likely to be seen in the Triangle or Charlotte, though it is unlikely.
Timber rattlesnake appearance
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission says a timber rattlesnake will have these characteristics:
- Length up to 5 ½ feet
- Large, heavy-bodied
- Dark crossbands on a lighter background
- Tail usually black
- In Mountains, usually yellow, dark gray or black
- In Piedmont and Coastal Plain, light brown, gray, tan or pinkish background
- Rattle on end of tail
As the name indicates, a Carolina pigmy rattlesnake will be significantly smaller. Also as the name indicates, the Diamondback has a dark diamond pattern on the scales.
Good news for Timber Rattlesnakes
Matt Estep recently studied the diversity of North Carolina timber rattlesnakes. Estep is not a herpetologist, but a professor of biology and evolutionary genetics at Appalachian State.
“They are in excellent genetic health, the best of any population of timber rattlesnakes that we know about right now,” Estep said.
Estep said he expected worse genetic health in the population because the timber rattlesnake is a threatened species in North Carolina, and because habitat destruction can perturb populations and lead to inbreeding or a “genetic bottleneck”, where swift population decline sharply drops genetic diversity.
“We go into this (research) expecting to find the bad things, and then in this case we found actually quite good things,” Estep said.
Stay away from rattlesnakes
Rattlesnakes are ambush predators, but as people always say, they are more scared of us than we are of them. Their tails rattle to warn away predators, including people.
“They really have no interest in injuring us most of the time. They’re just scared of us, because we’re so much bigger, and so, as long as you don’t try and handle them really, you don’t have a whole lot to worry about with rattlesnakes,” Estep said.
Rattlesnake bites can kill, unlike copperhead bites, which almost never do.
“I don’t think people, general people, should be handling or interacting with rattlesnakes. I do think that they shouldn’t be scared of them, they shouldn’t run over them on the highway, they shouldn’t kill them when they find them,” Estep said. “They should understand that those snakes play a significant role in our ecosystems.”
