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Rough earth snake

Virginia striatula · Snakes · Reptiles

Rough earth snake (Virginia striatula): Small, plain, secretive snake, 7-10 in, uniform gray, brown or reddish-brown with an unmarked cream or light-gray belly. Strongly keeled back scales (feels rough), 5 upper-lip scales, a single scale between the nostrils and one postocular scale touching the eye; anal plate usually divided. 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
Virginia striatula
Family
Colubridae
In North America
Native
Range
Southeastern and south-central United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri (Ozarks), Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia; not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small, plain, secretive snake, 7-10 in, uniform gray, brown or reddish-brown with an unmarked cream or light-gray belly. [1][2]

Strongly keeled back scales (feels rough), 5 upper-lip scales, a single scale between the nostrils and one postocular scale touching the eye; anal plate usually divided. [1][2]

Differs from the smooth earth snake by five supralabials, usually one preocular and keeled dorsal scales. [1][2]

Compared with the smooth earth snake: Nearly smooth scales, 6 upper-lip scales, 2 scales between the nostrils and 2 postoculars (Missouri Department of Conservation). [1][2]

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 rough earth snake before you act. Compared with the smooth earth snake: Nearly smooth scales, 6 upper-lip scales, 2 scales between the nostrils and 2 postoculars (Missouri Department of Conservation).[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Rocky hillsides of dry open woods, cedar glades, woodland edges, pastures, wooded bottomlands, hammocks, pine flatwoods, gardens and vacant urban lots, where moisture and cover occur. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Semifossorial and seldom above ground; hides under logs, flat rocks and leaf litter and may be active at night in warm, damp weather. [1][2]

Eats mainly earthworms, occasionally slugs, snails, small frogs and lizards. [1][2]

Active March-October (late March to early November in Missouri); young 2-13 per litter are born live in late July-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

Southeastern and south-central United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri (Ozarks), Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia; 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