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Florida pine snake

Pituophis melanoleucus · Snakes · Reptiles

Florida pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus): Large, stout snake 91-254 cm with a small head, sharply pointed snout and enlarged rostral scale. Florida pine snake (mugitus): tan to gray-brown or rusty-brown with faded, indistinct blotches and a pale belly; northern pine snake is white to cream with black blotches; black pine snake is nearly uniform black or dark brown with reddish snout. 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
Pituophis melanoleucus
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Eastern United States; the Florida subspecies occurs in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and southwestern South Carolina. Not in Canada as this subspecies (Animal Diversity Web places the bullsnake subspecies in parts of Canada).
Biology

How to identify it

Large, stout snake 91-254 cm with a small head, sharply pointed snout and enlarged rostral scale. [1][2]

Florida pine snake (mugitus): tan to gray-brown or rusty-brown with faded, indistinct blotches and a pale belly; northern pine snake is white to cream with black blotches; black pine snake is nearly uniform black or dark brown with reddish snout. [1][2]

Keeled scales, 4 prefrontals and an undivided anal scale; dark bars from the eye to the lips. [1][2]

Juveniles dull at emergence, brightening after first shed. [1][2]

Compared with the rat snakes (pantherophis) and kingsnakes: They have only 2 prefrontal scales, and rat snakes have a divided anal scale. [1][2]

Compared with the racers, whipsnakes and indigo snakes: These have smooth body scales; pine snakes have keeled scales. [1][2]

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a florida pine snake before you act. Compared with the rat snakes (pantherophis) and kingsnakes: They have only 2 prefrontal scales, and rat snakes have a divided anal scale.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Xeric pine or pine-oak woodland with open understory on sandy soils, longleaf pine sandhills, dry rocky ridges and old fields; needs level, well-drained sandy forest openings for nesting and hibernation. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mostly diurnal, active about April-October in the north; hibernates underground and may aestivate in summer. [1][2]

Eats small mammals mainly, plus birds and eggs, lizards, small snakes and insects (juveniles take more lizards and insects); forages underground. [1][2]

Hisses loudly using a cartilaginous keel in front of the glottis and vibrates its tail like a rattlesnake; digs with its snout. [1][2]

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.

Conservation and protection

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; the Florida subspecies occurs in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and southwestern South Carolina. Not in Canada as this subspecies (Animal Diversity Web places the bullsnake subspecies in parts of Canada).

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web