Green Snake, Rough

Latin name

Opheodrys aestivus

 

Fast facts

  • Adult body length: 22 - 32 inches, record 45½ inches
  • Breeding period: mate in spring and fall
  • Young per year: lay 3 - 12 eggs from June to August
  • Typical foods: insects and spiders
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    Appearance

    The Rough Green Snake has keeled scales and a divided anal plate . It is uniform pea-green in color with a white to yellowish green under surface. Recently hatched individuals are greenish-gray.

    Range

    Overall Range
    Southern New Jersey south to Florida, west to eastern Kansas and through Texas into Mexico.

    Range in Ohio
    Extreme southern counties.

    Rough Green Snake Ohio Map

    Local Habitat
    Vines, bushes and trees near water, often found in dense vegetation overhanging the edge of a stream or lake.

    Lifestyle

    The Rough Green Snake is diurnal. People who have seen it in nature call it a "graceful, mild-tempered tree-dweller." It moves slowly through vegetation, its green color making it almost invisible. This snake swims so well that one author calls it "almost semi-aquatic, freely entering shallow bodies of water."