I was a bit startled on Tuesday when I spotted this small, pale snake as I was walking along a trail at Occoquan Regional Park. In the first place, I am not used to seeing a snake at waist level, coiled up atop the vegetation. Secondly, I have never seen a snake that looked like this one. Was it a young snake of a familiar species?
I did some research and determined that it is almost certainly a DeKay’s Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi), a snake that on average is only 9 to 13 inches (23 to 33 cm) in length in Virginia. I had never even heard of this snake, so I headed over to the Virginia Herpetological Society for some information. According to the society’s website, “Dekay’s Brownsnakes are terrestrial, secretive, and seldom found in the open. They are nocturnal, but are most often found under surface objects such as boards, trash of all sorts, logs, and rocks. Their microhabitat may be described as the soil-humus layer.” I am not sure why this one was in the open, but the fact that this species spends a lot of time in the dirt, where it feeds primarily on slugs and worms, explains why I have never seen one before.
I was intrigued to note that this species is viviparous, which means that it gives birth to living young rather than lay eggs as many snakes do. The gestational period is 105 to 113 days and the average litter size is about 11, according to the Virginia Herpetological Society website, which also noted that “mating has not been observed in Virginia.” After the young are born there is no parental care involved, but sometimes young brown snakes will stay close with the parent, according to information on the Animal Diversity Web website.
I have visited this park dozens of times at different times of the year and it is exciting for me to be able to continue to spot new species there. It is humbling to think about how little I know about the diverse population of living creatures in this one location.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I’ve never heard of this snake. Interesting information too. Thanks.
I think you may have it where you live, but this snake is supposedly secretive. 🙂
The number of different snakes here is staggering. There is even a ‘Carolina Rattler’. Looks a little like a small Garter Snake. Just don’t get close. Nasty little sucker Ellen found the first week we lived here.
Yikes. Between concerns about alligators and snakes, I might never get any dragonfly photos there.
Ellen has been frustrated at times trying to get an angle on a dragonfly for just that reason. She obviously avoids getting down in/close to the water.
Beautiful coloring – cooperative to pose amid greenery for contrast!
So interesting, Mike. Never heard of this little snake. The wonder of God’s world amazes me daily! 😊
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That is definitely not where I would expect to spot a snake. I would love to see how it worked its way into that position. A DeKay’s Brown Snake was the first wild snake I encountered after emigrating to the US and I have not seen one since.
Wow, Laura, it is amazing that a DeKay’s was the first wild snake you saw–I would have expected it to be a garter snake or something like that. It is a mystery how the snake wriggled its way up to that kind of a position. I have the same question when I see green tree frogs in similar positions. (https://michaelqpowell.com/2013/07/24/green-treefrog/)
I obviously didn’t know enough about American snakes at the time to know how odd that was but, yes, in retrospect that was weird. Garter snakes are what we have on our property and around our neighbourhood so they are the snakes I encounter most often. When I walk in local parks, it tends to be Northern Water Snakes that we encounter most often.
Thanks for sharing the link to the tree frog post.
A cool find, Mike! And a fabulous capture, he really is quite beautiful.
Thanks, Ellen. Ted warned me that you have even more snakes there than I do. In our area the only one that I occasionally worry about is the copperhead and I have seen one of them on only a single occasion.
I’ve almost stepped on a snake more than once—I don’t stop to ID, just move along!
Wow. That would be cool to spot a snake sitting up on the vegetation like that. Great picture!
I try to stay alert–I never know what I will encounter. One of my favorite surprises was seeing a tree frog perched horizontally atop a leaf, much like this snake was doing. (https://michaelqpowell.com/2013/09/15/dramatic-green-frog/)
Very Nice Mike!