Florida Crowned Snake

Snapshot

Georgia DNR’s Florida (central Florida) crowned snake — a tiny black-headed Tantilla of extreme southern Georgia sandhills. State critically imperiled (S1) from tiny range. Non-venomous; leave alone.

Photos

(Photos pending — see photos/florida-crowned-snake/MANIFEST.md.)

Description and identification

SREL (Tantilla relicta): 7–9 inches; slender; tan or light brown with black head, chin, and nape; light spot on each side of the lower neck; belly uniform whitish-yellow. Smooth scales; divided anal. Distinguished from southeastern crowned snake by extreme-southern Georgia / Florida range and lack of an unbroken light neck ring.

Look-alikes

Southeastern crowned snake — clearer neck band; not extreme south GA. Other small fossorial snakes lack the black crown.

Range in Georgia

Primarily Florida; few sites in extreme southern Georgia. Full native range is Florida-centered with a Georgia fringe.

Full species range map

(Full native-range map pending — maps/florida-crowned-snake-full-range.png. Georgia occurrence in text; prefer GA DNR / SREL. Not Georgia-only art.)

Habitat preferences

Well-drained sandhills and hammocks; longleaf pine or turkey oak scrub; reported in pocket gopher and gopher tortoise burrows.

Natural history

Almost exclusively fossorial; seldom seen. Found under rocks, logs, leaf litter, and debris; reported from pocket gopher and gopher tortoise burrows. Lays several elongated eggs in summer. Important prey for some larger snakes where ranges overlap.

Food preferences

Small invertebrates by Tantilla habit — centipedes and similar soft fossorial prey (genus pattern).

Temperament and encounters

Harmless and tiny. A Georgia periphery species — leave sandhill cover undisturbed.

Conservation and legal notes

NatureServe G5 globally but Georgia S1 (critically imperiled) from a tiny state range; protected in Georgia.

In Georgia, non-venomous snakes are protected nongame wildlife. Per Georgia DNR materials summarizing O.C.G.A. §27-1-28, it is illegal (a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail) to possess or kill many nongame wildlife species, including non-venomous snakes. It is also illegal to disturb or destroy dens, holes, or homes of wildlife (O.C.G.A. §27-1-30). Report what DNR states; do not invent statutes or exceptions.

Georgia DNR’s georgiasnakes overview notes that among native snakes discussed there, only the eastern indigo and southern hognose are state-listed as threatened (indigo is also federally threatened). Roads, habitat loss, and fear-based killing still harm common species; calm ID from a distance is conservation work.

If you meet one

Give the snake room. These small fossorial snakes are harmless and benefit gardens and woodlots by eating earthworms and soft invertebrates. Identify from a distance; do not dig up cover piles to “check.” Local educators can help with distant photo ID. Leave wild snakes alone. Never pour chemicals into holes.