Sometimes if you look tough and act tough, you don’t have to actually be tough.

Especially if you’re a snake.

While Alabama has only six species of venomous snakes, there are several others with colors, patterns and behaviors that make them look like those more dangerous cousins.

These imposter snakes can’t actually envenomate a human if they bite, but they can certainly give you a fright if you come across one unexpectedly, and their resemblance to more dangerous species is a handy defense mechanism that can say pretty effectively “Don’t tread on me.”

There are at least 40 non-venomous snake species living in Alabama so we won’t get to all of them, but here are some of the snake species in Alabama that are most commonly mistaken for their venom-carrying cousins.

Diamondback water snakes are relatively large, thick bodied snakes. Adult body lengths usually range from 3 to 5 feet. They are greenish-brown to brown in color with dark blotches down their backs. The dark blotches are connected on the sides by alternating dark bars thus forming the diamond-shaped patterns for which the snakes are named. The bellies of diamondback water snakes are yellow with dark spots. These snakes are non-venomous. (Photo/John D. Wilson). al.comJohn D Wilson

Some of the most frequently misidentified Alabama snakes are the ones that swim in the water.

There are 11 different species of non-venomous aquatic snakes that live in Alabama, according to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. That includes the midland water snake, the brown water snake and the diamond-backed water snake.

Many of these are naturally mistaken for the cottonmouth, or water moccasin, a venomous species that lives in and around the water. Many of them are varying shades of brown that get darker as the snake ages, and they all swim in the water, but will also crawl on land.

The cottonmouth got its name because it will open its mouth wide when threatened, displaying a white inside of its mouth as a warning. But some of these non-venomous snakes will do that too.

“There are some imposters, some water snakes that do a really good cottonmouth display,” said Jimmy Stiles, a herpetologist and PhD candidate at Auburn University’s College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment.

Venomous cottonmouth snake with large head shape that prevents eyes from looking directly up.Jimmy Stiles

Stiles and Raymond Corey, founder of the Alabama Herpetological Society, run snake identification workshops for first responders and the general public, that includes live examples of the most common venomous and non-venomous snakes found in the state.

Stiles said one way to differentiate the harmless water snakes from the cottonmouth is the shape of the head.

Cottonmouths have a more angular head, with eyes that look out to the side. There’s actually a piece of the head that prevents the cottonmouth from looking directly up. So if you can see the snake’s eyes from directly above, it’s most likely a non-venomous water snake and not a venomous cottonmouth.

The eastern hognose snake puts on a dramatic display when threatened, mimicking a rattlesnake, playing dead and finally vomiting on itself as a defense mechanism. It is non-venomous. (Photo by Jimmy Stiles)Photo by Jimmy Stiles

The eastern hognose snake is the Daniel Day-Lewis of Alabama snakes and will go to great lengths to deliver a performance that convinces predators not to eat it.

First, the snake has a sort of similar color pattern to the eastern diamondback rattlesnake or pygmy rattlesnake, and has a broad head with upturned nose that many people think means it is venomous. Young hognoses are small enough that they are often mistaken for the pygmy rattlesnake in particular.

But if the appearance doesn’t scare off danger, there’s a series of bluffs that it hopes will do the trick.

First the snake can vibrate its tail to mimic a rattlesnake. If that doesn’t work, the snake is known to roll over and play dead.

Then, if the snake still feels threatened, it will resort to a final, drastic step to protect itself.

“It will puke up a toad, because that’s pretty much all they eat, and it will roll its whole body in the vomit,” Stiles said. “And at that point if you still want to eat it, then you’re pretty hard-pressed.

“It’s a pretty dramatic anti-predator display.”

Red touches black...wait, how does that rhyme go again?

There’s a reason most naturalists don’t try to teach that rhyme as a way to distinguish the venomous coral snake from the non-venomous scarlet kingsnake. One man in Alabama was bitten by a coral snake in 2018 because he supposedly remembered the rhyme incorrectly.

But, it is generally true that the snakes that have red bands touching black bands will be a scarlet kingsnake or a milk snake, neither of which are venomous.

The scarlet kingsnake is non-venomous, but closely resembles another tri-colored snake, the coral snake. which is venomous. The scarlet kingsnake has a red nose and face where the coral snake's snout is black. (Photo by Jimmy Stiles)Jimmy Stiles

The coral snake, which is a rare sighting in Alabama now anyway, typically has narrow yellow bands with red and black on either side.

A better way, Stiles said is in the face. Coral snakes will almost always have a black snout, while kingsnakes will have a red nose and face.

There’s also another snake, the scarlet snake, that has red, black and whitish-yellow bands that can also be mistaken for the coral snake. The scarlet snake also has a red face, and its bands do not wrap all the way around the body, and are only found on the top of the snake.

Scarlet snakes are non venomous and usually 14-20 inches in length. Scarlet snakes, like scarlet king snakes have red bands that do not contact yellow bands. Their heads are red and their snouts are pointed. (Photo/Richard Dowling). al.comal.com

The non-venomous Florida pine snake is sometimes mistaken for the eastern diamondback rattlesnake and is a species of high conservation concern in Alabama.Glenn Bartolotti via Wikimedia Commons

Alabama has three species of pine snakes that are sometimes mistaken for other species that are venomous or just larger.

Unfortunately, all three Alabama species of pine snake are facing severe population threats and so killing one because you think it’s a rattlesnake could be harmful or perhaps even illegal.

The Florida pine snake, also found in southeast Alabama, is often mistaken for the eastern diamondback rattlesnake.

If threatened, the snake will coil itself into an S-shape typical of diamondback rattlers, hiss and whip the tip of its tail back and forth, mimicking a rattlesnake’s sound. Reaching lengths of up to six feet, Stiles said this display alone can scare off many threats.

It is a species of high conservation concern, and suffered significant population declines thanks to habitat loss and “gassing” during rattlesnake roundups, where people would pour gasoline into gopher tortoise burrows to drive out snakes that sometimes inhabit these burrows.

A black pine snake at Splinter Hill Bog in Baldwin County, Ala. Pine snakes are now among rarest snakes of the Southeast, and historically, the third largest snake in the area. This one was about 4.5 to 5 feet long, but 6 to 7 foot specimens frequently documented. Non-venomous, these snakes put on quite a display on those rare occasions when they encounter people, hissing very loudly. (AL.com file)AL.com file

The black pine snake, living mostly in longleaf pine forests, can sometimes be mistaken for the eastern indigo snake, another longleaf resident that is just starting to rebound in Alabama after reintroductions in the Conecuh National Forest.

The black pine snake is listed under the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species, as is the indigo snake.

The northern pine snake’s habitat ranges from Alabama and Georgia north to New Jersey, though few have been found in the state. Its coloration and patterns could also be mistaken for a rattlesnake by an inexperienced observer, and the snake will vibrate its tail when threatened.

For more on Alabama’s species of snakes, see this handy guide from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

One of the best and worst ways to learn snake identification is through social media, where people often post photos of snakes they’ve encountered in the wild.

Maybe don’t listen to your uncle Frank who goes out in the woods a lot. But there are places where knowledgeable experts will weigh in for free and help ID a snake if you get a clear enough photo.

Groups like the Alabama Reptile and Amphibian ID and Education Facebook page has a number of knowledgeable admins like Stiles and Raymond Corey who can provide expert level identification in fairly short order.

Incorrect guesses are also deleted so you can feel more comfortable that the responses are accurate.

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