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Pygmy rattlesnake

Sistrurus miliarius · Snakes · Reptiles

Pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus miliarius): Small rattlesnake, usually 38-64 cm; grey, tan, brown or reddish with alternating dark mid-dorsal and lateral blotches and an orange-brown dorsal stripe in some. Dark stripe from the eye to the corner of the mouth, heat-sensing pit between eye and nostril, keeled scales, single anal plate. 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
Sistrurus miliarius
Family
Viperidae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern and south-central United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small rattlesnake, usually 38-64 cm; grey, tan, brown or reddish with alternating dark mid-dorsal and lateral blotches and an orange-brown dorsal stripe in some. [1][2][3]

Dark stripe from the eye to the corner of the mouth, heat-sensing pit between eye and nostril, keeled scales, single anal plate. [1][2][3]

Tiny rattle with a faint buzz like a grasshopper, audible only about a yard away; juveniles have a bright yellow tail tip that darkens with age. [1][2][3]

Compared with the timber rattlesnake: Adults are 3-5 ft long with a large rattle, versus a tiny rattle on the pygmy rattlesnake (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 pygmy rattlesnake before you act. Compared with the timber rattlesnake: Adults are 3-5 ft long with a large rattle, versus a tiny rattle on the pygmy rattlesnake (Missouri Department of Conservation).[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Mainly moist or wet lowlands: wet prairies and savannas, pine flatwoods, swamps, floodplains, sandhills and pond or canal edges; in Missouri, south-facing rocky partly wooded hillsides. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Solitary, reclusive and sedentary, sheltering under logs, brush, stumps or in small-mammal burrows; will flee but may strike if cornered. [1][2][3]

Ambush predator that eats lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, centipedes, nestling birds and small mammals; juveniles lure prey with the tail tip. [1][2][3]

In Florida seen most often July-November; in the north activity peaks June-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

Southeastern and south-central United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas; not in Canada.

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