North GroundHuntNorth Ground Hunt — return to North Ground
Species authority page

Common sharp-tailed snake

Contia tenuis · Snakes · Reptiles

Common sharp-tailed snake (Contia tenuis): Diminutive snake, usually under 12 in (most about 30 cm), rarely over 16 in; shiny reddish-brown or grey above with indistinct reddish stripes. Belly has alternating black and cream or pale bars (in Washington the only snake with such bands). 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.

Common sharp-tailed snake coiled on leaf litter
North Ground · All rights reserved
Scientific name
Contia tenuis
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands (British Columbia) south through Washington, Oregon and northern California, including the Sierra foothills; in Washington it occurs in about thirteen disjunct areas.
Biology

How to identify it

Diminutive snake, usually under 12 in (most about 30 cm), rarely over 16 in; shiny reddish-brown or grey above with indistinct reddish stripes. [1][2][3]

Belly has alternating black and cream or pale bars (in Washington the only snake with such bands). [1][2][3]

Short tail ends in a small spike-like scale, occasionally lost to injury; smooth scales in 15 rows. [1][2][3]

Young snakes are redder with more distinct side lines. [1][2][3]

Compared with the forest sharp-tailed snake: Forest sharp-tailed snake has a longer tail with more subcaudal scales (43-58 versus 24-42 in this species). [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 common sharp-tailed snake before you act. Compared with the forest sharp-tailed snake: Forest sharp-tailed snake has a longer tail with more subcaudal scales (43-58 versus 24-42 in this species).[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Edges of coniferous or open hardwood forest, oak woodland, meadows, pasture and broken chaparral; in Washington also riparian floodplains and shrub-steppe with woody debris and rocks. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Small and secretive; under cover in moist rotting logs, stumps, talus and rocks, often near streams, and sometimes several share one cover object. [1][2][3]

Surface activity is mostly in cool, moist spring and fall and the rainy season (October-April), with retreat underground in dry summers. [1][2][3]

Feeds mainly on slugs, using long re-curved teeth; breeds April-May, lays eggs late June-July and they hatch in fall. [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

Southern Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands (British Columbia) south through Washington, Oregon and northern California, including the Sierra foothills; in Washington it occurs in about thirteen disjunct areas.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife

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

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology