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Brown snake

Storeria dekayi · Snakes · Reptiles

Brown snake (Storeria dekayi): Small, stout snake rarely over about 13-15 in; grayish-brown to reddish-brown with a lighter stripe down the back bordered by two rows of small dark spots. Dark spot under each eye and on each side of the neck; heavily keeled scales (17 rows) and divided anal plate; belly cream, yellow or pink. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Scientific name
Storeria dekayi
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Eastern United States (east of the Rockies) and northern Mexico; in Canada southern Ontario and Quebec (NatureServe rank N5).
Biology

How to identify it

Small, stout snake rarely over about 13-15 in; grayish-brown to reddish-brown with a lighter stripe down the back bordered by two rows of small dark spots. [1][2][3]

Dark spot under each eye and on each side of the neck; heavily keeled scales (17 rows) and divided anal plate; belly cream, yellow or pink. [1][2][3]

Young are black or dark gray with a light neck ring but keeled scales separate them from ring-necked snakes. [1][2][3]

Compared with the ring-necked snake: Young brown snakes have a pale neck ring but keeled scales, which ring-necked snakes lack (Animal Diversity Web). [1][2][3]

Compared with the red-bellied snake: Close relative with a tan back stripe bordered by two rows of small dark spots and a cream, yellow or pink belly, versus the red-bellied snake's red, orange or pink belly and three light nape spots (Missouri Department of Conservation). [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a brown snake before you act. Compared with the ring-necked snake: Young brown snakes have a pale neck ring but keeled scales, which ring-necked snakes lack (Animal Diversity Web).[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Nearly all terrestrial and wetland habitat types including cities: moist forests, woodland edges along ravines and creeks, and grasslands near wetlands; hibernates underground or beneath buildings, often communally. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Secretive, hides under stones, boards and debris; most active late March to early November; often seen crossing roads in spring and fall. [1][2][3]

Eats earthworms, slugs and snails (one study 75% slugs); specialised teeth help pull snails from their shells. [1][2][3]

When threatened flattens its body and releases musk; gives birth to 3-41 young from mid-July to September. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Eastern United States (east of the Rockies) and northern Mexico; in Canada southern Ontario and Quebec (NatureServe rank N5).

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Missouri Department of Conservation · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  3. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology