Pigmy Rattlesnake
Sistrurus miliarius • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Viperidae, Subfamily: Crotalinae, Genus: Sistrurus, Species: S. miliarius
Southeastern United States, ranging from eastern North Carolina south through Florida and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma.
Look up Pigmy Rattlesnake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Viperidae, Subfamily: Crotalinae, Genus: Sistrurus, Species: S. miliarius
Conservation
Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, though local populations face threats from habitat fragmentation, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Physical Description
Characterized by a grayish body patterned with distinct dark gray or reddish-brown rounded dorsal blotches, often featuring a reddish vertebral stripe. The head is distinct from the neck with dark stripes running from the eyes to the rear of the jaw. Features a very small rattle at the tail tip.
Size & Dimensions
This pictured specimen appears to be a juvenile, approximately 15 to 25 cm in length. Adults typically range from 40 to 80 cm in total length.
Habitat
Found in a variety of habitats including flatwoods, sandhills, mixed forests, floodplains, and around the edges of lakes and marshes. Frequently shelters under logs, debris, or in palmetto thickets.
Diet & Feeding
Preys primarily on amphibians, lizards, mice, and other small snakes. Employs an active foraging and ambush strategy depending on the prey availability.
Reproduction
Ovoviviparous species, giving birth to live young. Mating typically occurs in the spring, with litters ranging from 2 to 20 young born in late summer or early autumn.
Look-alikes
Frequently confused with other small non-venomous snakes such as young racers (Coluber constrictor) or pine snakes (Pituophis melanoleucus), which lack the characteristic rattle and facial markings of viperids.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, though local populations face threats from habitat fragmentation, road mortality, and intentional killing.
Cultural Significance
Plays an important ecological role as a predator of small rodents and insects, helping to control local pest populations.
Notable Features
Distinguished by an extremely small rattle that produces a sound resembling the buzz of an insect rather than the loud buzz of larger rattlesnakes.