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Queen snake

Regina septemvittata · Snakes · Reptiles

Queen snake (Regina septemvittata): Slender semiaquatic snake, 34-92 cm; brownish or olive above with a yellow stripe along each side extending onto the lip scales. Belly bright yellow with four brownish lengthwise stripes converging toward the tail. 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.

Queen snake among fallen leaves
Photo by Adventureontheside.com on Unsplash
Scientific name
Regina septemvittata
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Eastern United States from the southern Great Lakes to the Florida panhandle and east to the Carolinas, north to Pennsylvania and New York; in Canada only southern Ontario (Georgian Bay, Bois Blanc Island), ranked N2 and listed Endangered under SARA.
Biology

How to identify it

Slender semiaquatic snake, 34-92 cm; brownish or olive above with a yellow stripe along each side extending onto the lip scales. [1][2]

Belly bright yellow with four brownish lengthwise stripes converging toward the tail. [1][2]

Keeled scales (19 rows at midbody), round pupils, divided anal plate; no light stripe down the back, unlike garter snakes. [1][2]

Young show dark horizontal bands on the back. [1][2]

Compared with the garter snakes: Garter snakes have a light dorsal stripe and an undivided anal plate; queen snakes lack a dorsal stripe and have a divided anal plate (Animal Diversity Web). [1][2]

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a queen snake before you act. Compared with the garter snakes: Garter snakes have a light dorsal stripe and an undivided anal plate; queen snakes lack a dorsal stripe and have a divided anal plate (Animal Diversity Web).[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Occurs only where crayfish are abundant, generally in moderate to fast-flowing streams with rocky or sandy bottoms, cover and sun exposure. [1][2]

Sometimes uses ditches, canals, marsh or pond edges, but is usually scarce there. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Eats almost exclusively crayfish, preferring freshly molted ones; occasionally small fish and amphibian larvae. [1][2]

Diurnal and solitary outside breeding; basks on rocks, logs and branches overhanging the water. [1][2]

Active May-September in the north, and year-round in warm climates; hibernates in crayfish or mammal burrows in the north. [1][2]

Live-bearing; 5-31 young born July to early September. [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.

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 from the southern Great Lakes to the Florida panhandle and east to the Carolinas, north to Pennsylvania and New York; in Canada only southern Ontario (Georgian Bay, Bois Blanc Island), ranked N2 and listed Endangered under SARA.

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 · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology