Red-bellied Snake

Snapshot

A small (4–10 inch) woodland Storeria with an unmarked bright orange-to-red belly — Georgia’s slug specialist under logs and leaf piles. Color above wildly variable. Non-venomous; leave alone.

Photos

(Photos pending — see photos/red-bellied-snake/MANIFEST.md.)

Description and identification

SREL: 4–10 inches; highly variable dorsum (orange, brown, gray, nearly black; sometimes a middorsal stripe); many with a light brown ring behind the head. Distinguished from other small woodland snakes by an unmarked bright orange to red underside.

Look-alikes

Brown snake — pale belly, dorsal spot rows. Worm snake — pink belly extending up sides, fossorial worm look. Ringneck — neck ring + different belly pattern. Black swamp snake — aquatic, solid black above.

Range in Georgia

Eastern U.S.; absent peninsular Florida. Georgia mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain wetland margins. Full native range covers much of eastern North America.

Full species range map

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

Habitat preferences

Woodland habitats; in the Coastal Plain often at small wetland margins; in the mountains also open habitats such as fields and balds. Less suburban than brown snakes — more forest-associated in our region.

Natural history

Secretive live-bearing Storeria. Under logs, bark, and litter. Common where forest cover remains; overlooked because of size.

Food preferences

Slugs and soft invertebrates are staples — a quiet garden ally where people leave leaf litter and logs.

Temperament and encounters

Inoffensive. The bright belly may startle someone who flips a snake — it is not a warning of venom.

Conservation and legal notes

Protected throughout Georgia. Forest and wetland-margin cover matter.

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.