If the tail has a rattle or if it rounds off like the end of your finger it is likely to be a prairie rattlesnake. The first thing we ask callers to do is to look at that tail of the suspected snake: Here in South Dakota it’s fairly easy to tell which are dangerous and which are not - If the tail comes to a point like a toothpick it would be one of our native harmless snakes. They will coil up, hiss, strike, and even shake their little rattle-less tails. Two local species have young that are colored much like rattlesnakes for this very reason - to fool predators.īaby Bullsnakes and baby Eastern Yellowbellied Racers (also known locally as Blue Racers) bear an uncanny resemblance to young rattlesnakes. Many times the snakes people are seeing are not rattlesnakes at all. We get many calls, especially in the spring and early summer, about baby rattlesnakes. If you roll one onto its belly, it will promptly roll right back over on its back. Unfortunately the poor snake doesn't quite have the whole dead act down quite right. If that fails it will roll over on its back, loll out its tongue, and pretend to be dead. If threatened a Hognose Snake will hiss and puff up its head (hence the Puff Adder moniker). They are renowned, however, for their remarkable defense display. This innocuous little snake is quite harmless to most everything except its favorite food, toads. The snake referred to in this instance is the Western Hognose Snake. The most common venomous snake story we hear is about the 'South Dakota Puff Adder.' Some people even claim this snake is so deadly its mere breath can kill you. They are fairly common but rarely seen due to their secretive nature. What you have is a shy and harmless Pale Milk Snake (Lampropeltis t. Coral snakes are not found within about 700 miles of South Dakota. That little snake you just found under a log or in the garage is not a coral snake.

Many people believe some of our other snakes are venomous but luckily for most of us, such stories are myths. South Dakota has just one venomous snake species, the Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus v. How many types of venomous snakes live in South Dakota? We have 8 species of lizards, 7 species of turtles, and 17 species of snakes. South Dakota is home to many species of reptiles.

Brown milksnake copperhead