Common ribbon snake facts for kids
The eastern ribbon snake (scientific name: Thamnophis saurita) is a common type of garter snake. You can find it in Eastern North America. This snake is not venomous, meaning it's harmless to humans. It belongs to a group of snakes called Colubridae.
Ribbon snakes usually grow to be about 16 to 35 inches (41 to 89 cm) long. They are dark brown with bright yellow stripes. It's hard to tell males and females apart just by looking, but females are usually a bit thicker than males.
You can find ribbon snakes in wet places like lakes, streams, ponds, and marshes. They are active from April to October. During the cold winter months, they hibernate, which means they go into a deep sleep. These snakes become adults and can start having babies when they are about 3 years old.
Quick facts for kids Thamnophis saurita |
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| Eastern ribbon snake (Thamnophis saurita saurita) | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Thamnophis
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| Species: |
saurita
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| Subspecies | |
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Four, see text |
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Contents
Meet the Ribbon Snake Family: Subspecies
There are four different types, or subspecies, of the eastern ribbon snake. Each one has slightly different looks or lives in different areas:
- Eastern ribbon snake – T. s. saurita (Linnaeus, 1766)
- This one has a brown body with three clear yellow stripes. One stripe goes down its back, and one goes down each side.
- It lives from New York all the way down to Florida, and west to the Mississippi River.
- Northern ribbon snake – T. s. septentrionalis (Rossman, 1963)
- This snake is dark brown or black with a yellow line down its back and often on its sides.
- You can find it from Maine through Ontario (in Canada) and Indiana.
- Southern ribbon snake or peninsula ribbon snake – T. s. sackenii (Kennicott, 1859)
- This type is usually tan or brown.
- It lives from South Carolina south through Florida.
- Bluestripe ribbon snake – T. s. nitae (Rossman, 1963)
- This snake is dark with light blue stripes on its sides.
- It lives along the Gulf Coast of north-central Florida.
Where Do Ribbon Snakes Live?
Ribbon snakes love water! They are called "semi-aquatic," which means they spend time both in and out of water. You will almost always find them close to water.
You might see them resting in the sun near ponds, streams, swamps, or even wet forests and grassy areas. They use shallow water to hunt for food and to escape from animals that might try to eat them. When winter comes, they usually find places underground to stay warm, like under piles of rocks.
What Do Ribbon Snakes Eat and Who Eats Them?
Ribbon snakes are good hunters. They use their sight and hearing to find food. Unlike some other snakes, ribbon snakes do not eat warm-blooded animals.
What's on the Menu?
Ribbon snakes enjoy a diet of:
- Newts
- Salamanders
- Frogs
- Toads
- Tadpoles
- Small fish
- Spiders
- Earthworms
Who Hunts the Hunters?
Larger animals like mammals, birds, and bigger amphibians and reptiles sometimes prey on ribbon snakes.
How Do They Stay Safe?
Ribbon snakes usually don't try to fight back. Instead, they use their brown bodies to blend in with the plants around them. If they feel threatened, they will quickly slither away and hide in thick grass. There, they will coil up and try to stay as low to the ground as possible.
Smaller ribbon snakes have a challenge because they can only eat small prey. To help with this, these smaller snakes often have bigger heads compared to their body size. This allows them to swallow bigger meals!
How Do Ribbon Snakes Have Babies?
After hibernating through the winter, ribbon snakes start looking for a mate in the spring.
Ribbon snakes are special because they give birth to live young. This means the babies hatch inside the mother and are born alive, not from eggs laid outside the body. Baby ribbon snakes are usually born in the summer. A mother can have anywhere from 4 to 27 babies at one time!
Ribbon snakes become old enough to have their own babies when they are about two or three years old. After they mature, they usually breed once or twice each year.
