This nonvenomous NC snake eats copperheads. Here’s how to identify it
In North Carolina, there’s a lot of buzz around copperheads.
Every year, The News & Observer informs readers about how to identify the venomous snakes and what to do if one bites you — or your pet.
Experts repeat the same advice about interacting with copperheads every year: If you see a copperhead, don’t try to catch it, and don’t try to kill it; just leave it alone.
There’s another snake that lives in North Carolina that you really, really shouldn’t try to catch or kill: the Eastern kingsnake.
Why? Three big reasons:
- It’s nonvenomous, so no need for antivenom.
- It eats copperheads, the only venomous snakes likely to be seen in central North Carolina and the Triangle.
- Its population (most likely) continues to decline. More on that later.
Here’s a primer on Eastern kingsnakes.
What is the Eastern kingsnake?
The Eastern kingsnake is a constrictor. It is typically black with a white or yellow chain-like pattern, but some snakes may be more brown.
Eastern kingsnakes may be found across the eastern United States, including throughout North Carolina. They’re rare in areas with higher elevation and urban areas, and are more likely to be found in wetter environments, near bodies of water, where there’s more food.
“They’re not the most common snake, even though they’re found across the state,” Falyn Owens, a wildlife biologist with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, previously told The News & Observer.
What do Eastern kingsnakes eat?
These snakes will munch on a variety of animals, including frogs, birds, turtle eggs, lizards, other snakes and mammals such as rodents.
What a snake eats depends on where it lives, Jeff Beane, a collections manager for herpetology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, previously told The N&O.
Eastern kingsnakes are immune to pit viper venom, Owens said. That means they can eat venomous snakes including copperheads, rattlesnakes and cottonmouths.
A video shared by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in 2021 shows an Eastern kingsnake killing and devouring a venomous timber rattlesnake, which is the most common of the three rattlesnake species in North Carolina.
Why is the Eastern kingsnake population in decline?
We reported last year that the Eastern kingsnake population is, overall, declining.
It’s not easy to monitor the population of any species year to year, let alone a “secretive species,” Beane said in an email to The N&O. But even if one were to attempt to keep track of a population, there wouldn’t be a statistically significant difference from one year to the next.
Populations fluctuate in the short term. Eastern kingsnakes hatch by early fall, resulting in a temporary increase in numbers. But it takes several years for the snakes to reach sexual maturity, when they can reproduce. In the meantime, eggs and juveniles die, and adults are killed by predators, disease, human activity, freezing temperatures or some other cause.
That means long-term observations or studies are the best way to tell how a species is doing.
Habitat loss caused by humans — including the construction of roads and buildings — has contributed to Eastern kingsnakes’ struggles. And certainly, Eastern kingsnakes have not gained habitat since last year, but have lost even more, Beane said in the email.
“Most animals just don’t do well when their habitat is covered with pavement and vehicles are driving through it,” Beane said.
But human activity is not the only factor. If the population of Eastern kingsnakes’ prey is in decline, that could cause the Eastern kingsnakes’ numbers to drop, too, Beane said. Disease may also be a factor for the snakes in some areas.
Protecting Eastern kingsnakes
Beane said land protection is the main initiative being undertaken to help preserve the Eastern kingsnake population.
What to do if you see an Eastern kingsnake
Just leave it alone. It’s not dangerous to humans or pets, Beane said — unless your pet is a mouse or a small snake.
“With any snake, my advice is always to give it space, so that it feels comfortable, so that you’re not putting yourself at risk of making it feel like it has to defend itself,” Owens said.
