Worm Snake

The worm snake is one of North America's smallest and most secretive snakes, named for its uncanny resemblance to an earthworm in both shape and color. It is a fossorial specialist that lives almost entirely beneath the surface.

It is completely harmless to humans, lacking both the size and venom to pose any threat. Most people who encounter one do so accidentally while gardening or turning over logs and rocks.

• Very small, thin, cylindrical body
• Smooth, glossy scales giving a shiny, almost polished appearance
• Uniform brown to dark gray on top with a pink to salmon-colored belly
• Tiny head barely distinguishable from the neck
• Small eyes and a pointed snout adapted for burrowing
• A short, sharply pointed tail tip
• Adults typically measure 18-28 cm (7-11 in)

Lives in moist forested areas with loose, well-drained soil, under logs, rocks, and leaf litter. Found throughout much of the eastern United States, from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic south into parts of the Southeast.

Almost entirely fossorial, spending the vast majority of its life underground or beneath surface cover, rarely seen in the open. It feeds primarily on earthworms, using its pointed snout to burrow through soil. Reproduction is oviparous, with females laying small clutches of a few eggs in moist underground sites.