Eastern Mud Snake
Farancia abacura • Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Dipsadinae, Genus: Farancia, Species: Farancia abacura
Southeastern United States, ranging from southeastern Virginia south to Florida and west to eastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma.
Look up Eastern Mud Snake in the Snake Encyclopedia →Family
Order: Squamata, Suborder: Serpentes, Family: Colubridae, Subfamily: Dipsadinae, Genus: Farancia, Species: Farancia abacura
Conservation
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Main threats include habitat loss through wetland drainage and road mortality during seasonal migrations.
Physical Description
The visible section displays extremely glossy, dark black or bluish-black dorsal scales with prominent, strongly keeled ridges. The body is thick and cylindrical, characteristic of a heavily-built aquatic snake.
Size & Dimensions
The visible section is likely part of a medium to large adult. Typical adult length ranges from 40 to 54 inches (102 to 137 cm), with a maximum recorded length of over 80 inches.
Habitat
Found primarily in aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats such as cypress swamps, marshes, sluggish streams, and the edges of lakes and ponds with muddy substrates and abundant aquatic vegetation.
Diet & Feeding
Specialized diet consisting almost entirely of aquatic salamanders (such as amphiumas and sirens), along with occasionally eating small frogs and fish. Forages actively in muddy water and tunnels.
Reproduction
Oviparous species. Females lay clutches typically ranging from 20 to 50 eggs in damp soil, decaying logs, or under debris near water, often during summer.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List status is Least Concern. Main threats include habitat loss through wetland drainage and road mortality during seasonal migrations.
Cultural Significance
Fictional folklore incorrectly portrays mud snakes as the 'hoop snake' that can take its tail in its mouth and roll like a hoop, but ecologically they are important predators of large aquatic salamanders.
Notable Features
Features an exceptionally glossy, iridescent sheen and a sharp, horny spine at the tip of the tail (earning the folk name 'stinging snake').